the talbot times

The green monster...

2012-01-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, are we in trouble... Bryn is now a big 17 months old (less than a month to nursery, yeah!), and she is a beautiful, wonderful, fun girl. But does she ever keep me on my toes!

Brent and I are full back into the swing of things; he's working very hard to get in all his requirements during his last semester, and I'm as busy as ever with my millions of projects and plans and trying to get our house put together to sell. Bryn makes all of this extra interesting. :)

I was busy doing something on my computer, both the kids in the living room with me. I have a pretty good idea of the state of the house and the things Bryn likes to get in to, but she suprised me with this one. I look up and she's covered in green...

This picture doesn't even do it justice! Apparently she had gone into Drew's room, the door of which should be and usually is always closed. And there happened to be a dollar-store stamp (the kind that's both a stamp and an ink pad all in one) on the floor. She was eating it...

There was the bright green all over the bottom half of her face, in her mouth, all over her hands and running down her arms, dribbled down the front of her (new) shirt and pooling in the seat of my special rocking chair. Yes, I freaked out!

The chair was the easiest part to clean, and I had to soak her shirt with OxyClean, but that came out, too. But she looked like this for the rest of the day. The green on her face faded to this funny, thin mustache by dinner time. I'm just glad she didn't get sick.

I have to admit, it's pretty funny. This girl definitely makes us laugh every single day! I asked her to show me her hands and this is what she did...

And now, we must introduce you to my favorite face, the stink face. Not sure how she started doing this, but it makes me laugh, and then she laughs at herself, which is ridiculously cute... (This looks especially appropriate with all the green on her face.)

Haha! Seriously, what will I do with this little character? Probably just love her to death and try to laugh at everything she puts us through.

... and a happy New Year!

2012-01-22T15:45:00.001-07:00

Although my parents thought we were coming up on the 26th, we ended up driving to northern Utah on Christmas day and surprised them. It was so fun, plus since we were going to come back down to Cedar before we headed home, it was nice to get a little extra time.

We got three more Christmases at my mom's. I think the kids were pretty disappointed when we got home and the tree didn't mean more presents.

Drew got a Pillow Pet, and he loves it! That was the first thing he took for show and tell when we got back.

We had a fun week, visiting with the family and a few friends and just relaxing. We got a few days with my brother and his wife, but then they were in the middle of a move, so we celebrated New Year's with my grandparents and my sis and her hubby. We had so much fun -- we went out to eat at Winger's and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Look at that big ol' plate of sticky fingers! Yum.... We also played our favorite Winger's game: Throw popcorn in someone else's mouth. Drew was having a blast!

Then we stopped by the old courthouse and looked at the Christmas lights in the little village.

Check out this gingerbread house! It's a masterpiece!

We sent Bryn to bed and played games until it was time to ring in the new year. Drew made it all the way to midnight!!

We celebrated Mormon style with some Martinelli's. :) We had a great time...

We also were able to fit in some quick family pictures, which was wonderful! Yep, pretty good looking family if I do say so myself. :)

Thanks so much for squeezing this in. I'm so glad we've got new pictures. We loved seeing you!

What a merry Christmas...

2012-01-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year! We were all together, which was extra sweet knowing that several of us will be going on some big adventures this coming year and I'm not sure when we'll get to see everyone again.

It was also extra special because my mother-in-law gave us a special gift: She used to make pajamas for all her kids for Christmas. This year, she did it for ALL of us. I'm not even sure how many sets she made, but I have to say it was pretty incredible! I feel very lucky to be part of this family...

'Course, this is how we usually look... :)

We opened our special jammies from Mary on Christmas Eve, and then spent a fun evening all together.

Bryn looks pretty spiffy in her red Christmas jammies...

After a yummy dinner (and some of the most delicious prime rib I've ever had, and that's saying a lot coming from someone who's barely a meat-eater), the kids made reindeer out of cookies and other fun treats.

And when I say the kids made reindeer, I mean the cousins made reindeer and Drew ate his treats. :)

The little boys had some story time with Grandma. Jax got bored and wandered off, and Lennix fell asleep. Drew was the only one who made it through the story. Then we threw a bunch of matresses on the floor and tried to find a place for everyone to sleep. Not sure how much sleep everyone got, plus we stayed up really late...

The next morning, our monkey bread almost exploded it got so big. It was so good...

Christmas morning was a wonderful flurry of wrapping paper and happy shouts. It was really nice...

Drew was a little unsure at first; he definitely didn't get enough sleep. But once we brought him some presents, he got more excited about things.

We were lucky to get to spend some extra time with Mitch and Julie. We wanted to take a trip in September to go see them, and then it didn't work out. And we can't try again this year because they're going to Korea for baseball this season. Good luck, you two! I'm sure it will be a wonderful, exciting year but we'll really miss you.

Jaxon bagged up his haul and was ready to take it home and get playing with it. But before everyone left, we went to church together. It was really neat having Christmas on a Sunday this year, and spending some time in worship. It was a great reminder for this season, and doing that with our family was priceless.

After Christmas morning and church, we let the kids get a little rest in and then headed up north to surprise my parents, who thought we were coming the next day...

It's party time...

2012-01-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun going home for Christmas this year. But before we went home, we had a little Christmas of our own -- there was something really special the year before when we didn't go and we had Christmas with just our little family.

Bryn is getting so big; I don't think she totally understands about Christmas, but she really liked ripping the paper off everything. (I love that she has started wearing my shoes, I had to throw this picture in...)

Drew was sooooo excited for Christmas; after we set up our tree, every morning he came into the living room and said, "Oh, the tree!" And he'd shimmy underneath it to turn on the lights and the star.

We stopped first in Vegas to go see our best friends. Their little boy, Shay, and Drew were fast friends. It's always great to see them, and never long enough...

Then we headed to Cedar and it was wonderful to get to see everyone in the family. We went sledding and out to eat and caught up on everything. One of the highlights of our trip was a big party my sister-in-law Julie planned for Brent and his brother, Jay, both of whom will be graduating in the spring from dental school.

She did such an awesome job with this party! We had a delicious dinner and lots of fun little activities. Here Julie's giving my nephew Lennix a fake shot with syringe pens.

The soon-to-be dentists with their kiddos

Ang and Lexie having some dinner

We had a table full of candy, and Bryn was trying to get anything she could grab. Luckily it was the wrapped candy that was within her reach.

And you can't have a party without embarrassing the boys a little -- they had to dress up as the tooth fairy for some of the activities. Pretty handsome in that getup...

Jens trying out the tiara

The boys also had to do a Minute to Win It game -- take two toothbrushes from a holder on the bill of a cap and transfer them to another toothbrush holder. It looked so hard, but they both did it. Well, mostly... Brent almost had it but it fell out at the last second.

Oh, my silly Brent. I'm so proud of him, though. He has worked so hard in dental school, not only to pass his classes and get his requirements but also to keep a balance between school work and being home with us. We just found out he passed his boards with flying colors.

Love me some turkey and stuffing...

2011-11-27T18:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no new pics this week, but we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our closest friends, worked on projects and enjoyed having Brent around for a bit. We also went to Gattitown, which is pretty much like Chuck E Cheese and Drew had the time of his life. We'll be busy getting ready for Christmas and Brent will be studying like crazy for the boards. He's taking them Dec. 15 and 16; any extra good thoughts and/or prayers will be much appreciated. :)

Quakenados and family pictures...

2011-11-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was quite a trip, with the culmination on Monday: We had two earthquakes over the weekend, and then Monday night we found ourselves in the middle of tornado and flash flood warnings when we had another earthquake. My favorite comment I saw on FB about the whole thing was a welcome sign to the state, and underneath is said, "Home of the Quakenado". Yeah, it was a lot of drama, although thank goodness unnecessary drama because we didn't get anything bad in the city...

And in lighter news, I did an exchange with one of my photog friends, Felisha, so we could have family pictures this year. So I forewent the shoddy attempts at a family picture with my tripod and remote and now we have some good pictures (by the way, find her website here).

Boomer Sooner! I thought we ought to get some crimson and cream for our Okie family pictures...

Thanks Felisha! It was definitely fun to be on this side of the camera for once, and I learned so much working with you. And no worries, Grandmas, I already got some prints for you -- promise I'll bring them home at Christmas!

Candy? Free candy? Yeah, I'm all over that...

2011-11-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

We had so much Halloween fun this year! I missed out on our ward party because I got really sick, but we got to go to a playgroup party and then really enjoyed Halloween night. I'm happy with our costumes this year, but especially Drew's...

Bryn didn't really fit in with our LOTR theme, so she's just a little baby elf, I guess. :) Made her a little Renaissance-style dress and a cloak.

Drew loved all the weapons he got with his costume. His bow was more for looks, though; it wouldn't shoot the arrow and was so big it started to get in the way when he was running from house to house.

I told him to give me a serious look and this is what he came up with... Squinty.

Brent was our bad guy this year, but his costume turned out not as cool as I had hoped. I made it in three pieces so it would be layered, but the layers kept shifting. His mask was too short, so we had to improvise something to cover his neck that didn't work very well. And the final coup? I had made his robe really, really long because I knew I would shrink it up afterward and it still wasn't long enough! I could see his ankles when he walked. Boo....

Bryn got to got trick-or-treating at a few houses, then we confined her to her elf carriage (aka stroller)...

We went with a huge group of friends in a different neighborhood (our neighborhood is AWFUL for Halloween), and this was only half the kids. And after a few houses, Drew realized just what was going on and he was the first one to run to the next house. He was having so much fun; when we left to go to our party, he kept asking, "Please, can I have more trick-or-treats?"

Looks like he found the hafling...

Yeah, that bucket is full!

Sorry, I really was going to get pictures of me, but once we got going on our Halloween festivities I totally forgot. I was Arwen in a green dress and a silver cloak I made several years ago...

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:34:00.000-06:00

We hope you all have a wonderful Halloween, full of mostly treats!

Don't worry; there are costume pictures coming, but I won't be taking them until this evening before the festivities begin... Happy Halloween!

Some birthday pictures...

2011-10-13T15:58:00.000-06:00

So, I'm really late with Drew's, but I finally got caught up on all my photo editing and I finished Drew and Bryn's birthday shoots. Head over to my photography blog if you want to see more!

Aloha!

2011-10-09T15:52:00.002-06:00

Yes, I've been very slow in getting these on here, but I wanted to edit the pictures from our trip to Hawaii and I've had several things I had to edit first. But they're finally done and I'm so excited to share! Brent and I had so much fun! Plus, this was our first real trip somewhere together, so it was the perfect present to ourselves for our 9th anniversary.

We stayed in downtown Waikiki, and as you can see from our balcony view, we were just a few buildings away from the beach. It was sweet...

The other great thing about our hotel? It was surrounded by the International Market Place. We went there almost every day, whether to do some souvenir shopping, for dinner or even to see one of Honolulu's prestigious hula schools perform (it was awesome, by the way). So fun to wander and brouse, try different foods and even some Dole whip. Yesssss....

Even though Brent was busy with clinic time several of the days I was there, we still got to go do all the things you're supposed to do when you go to Hawaii. The experience I thought was the most interesting was Pearl Harbor. It was incredible! We didn't bother with going to the Arizona memorial (we couldn't, actually, because Brent had to be in dress uniform for that), but we visited the USS Missouri battleship.

I am enamored with WWII history, so it was really incredible to be in the place that brought the United States into that war, and to be able to see where it ended in the Pacific. This battleship was truly impressive in all it could do and all that it had done...

This was the marker on the deck where Gen. MacArthur and several others signed with Japanese dignitaries to make their surrender official at the end of the war. It was humbling to stand there and listen as our tour guide repeated some of MacArthur's speech that day. We also saw a submarine come into the harbor, and the sailors were all standing on top of the sub, saluting the Missouri as they came in. Pretty cool...

We also made the trip up to Laie to the Polynesian Culture Center. I have to say overall, that was one thing I could have skipped. It was cool to see the little villages...

And I did get to take the hula lesson I really wanted to take (although I was kind of disappointed -- it was very touristy and I wanted to learn something about traditional hula).

We enjoyed the buffet, although I wasn't really impressed with that either. It was, however, so much fun to see Brent try to immitate the tikis. Hehe...

It was worth the drive, though, to see the temple. (Plus the drive was spectacular along the way.) The temple was wonderful to see, even though we didn't have time to go inside.

We also made it up to the North Shore to do some snorkeling. We went to a little place called Shark's Cove (just to the left of the trees in this picture). It was a tide pool area big enough to swim in but sheltered from the waves. We saw so many neat tropical fish. We had lunch at this spectacular place called the Hula Cafe in Hale'iwa, and then it was so crowded on the tiny roads up by the North Shore, we decided to head back to our hotel.

The North Shore was pretty spectacular. I'd love to come back in the winter and see some awesome surfing...

Brent was so wonderful: He made reservations to this really fancy restaurant close to our hotel called Top of Waikiki. It was at the top of a big business building, and the restaurant actually rotates around in there, so you get to see the entire area in an hour. So we had this extremely fancy dinner to celebrate our ninth anniversary.

The view was spectacular (we went right around sunset, awesome), and we had sooooo much fun, but apparently I'm not really a fancy dinner kind of girl (unless maybe it's French food, I guess). The food was not good, at all, and I was really disappointed with their tiny menu. Brent really liked the appetizer, and I got a wonderful fondu for dessert, but our entrees -- well, I thought Brent's swordfish was decent, but my chicken stuff was disgusting. Oh well, it was still lots of fun!

We also got to go to the swapmeet at the Aloha Stadium, which was so fun! We went body surfing at Waikiki Beach, I got to go shopping at the Ala Moana Shopping Center and we spent plenty of time walking around, enjoying the local cuisine and scenery. I got all the jewelry I was hoping for, as well as a Hawaiian dress, and Brent got a ukelele -- a real one, not a toy -- and he's getting really good at playing it.

I have to say I was expecting it to be more picturesque, but I'm still pretty happy looking back at my pictures. I absolutely loved these little flowers that we saw growing everywhere, and there were lots of other beautiful flowers and plants. The mountains in the middle of the island were awesome, and the beaches were fabulous, especially along the east side of the island.

It was short, but for our first trip away from the kids, it was the perfect length. I'll definitely take more time for the next trip, and I'd like to see some of the other islands. It was so much fun!

These are a few of my favorite things...

2011-09-25T16:14:00.000-06:00

Well, more like some of my favorite people. We had such a blast visiting family, but some of my "family" I didn't get to see enough of, and we're reserving time for you at Christmas!!

Drew was ridiculously kid-time starved, and he was so excited to go see his friend. They fought a little, like little boys do, but when he found out we weren't going back to the condo to hang out with S some more, he was really upset.

Isn't this one of the most handsome kids you've ever seen?

They went and played on a little treehouse/tower thing, watched a movie, read books and had so much fun. Don't worry, Aunt Erin, I'll have edited pics for you soon! :) And by soon, I probably mean after Halloween...

Can't wait to see you again!

Too short but completely worth it...

2011-09-13T21:07:00.000-06:00

Ok, no judging, these aren't edited yet, but I wanted to share...

We were able to flit out to my grandma's house in Duchesne; it was only for a few short days, and I wish we could have stayed longer, but I guess that's what happens when you're trying to cram everyone you want to see into about two weeks. Completely worth it, though. We had so much fun, especially Drew. He'd apparently been kid-deprived because he was so upset to leave his cousins. He asked to go back to great-grandma's house for days...

Sorry, I don't have any other pics from the week; I didn't even pick up my camera because we were just enjoying talking to each other, or the kids were playing together in the yard or with the toys I remember playing with at Grandma's. But I couldn't let this opportunity go by -- we had four generations of girls together for the first time. Thanks for all the good food and the good company -- we miss you guys!

There's no place like Grandma's...

2011-09-06T20:58:00.001-06:00

It feels like forever since we'd been back to Utah -- because we stayed home for Christmas last year (didn't want that rather new baby to get sick), it had been a year since I'd been home home. Brent got to come to Utah for maybe 48 hours, so it's been even longer for him. It was really nice to come home for a nice, long visit, even if Brent had to go off on his school/military duties again.

And can I just say that I have the best dad -- ever? He flew out here to drive two days with his crazy grandkids so I wouldn't have to do it by myself, and I couldn't appreciate it more! We did ok, though, and made good time both days so we all arrived in one piece, more or less. :) At least he got to see a ball game while he was here!

I got to spend some fun, relaxing time with my brother and sister and their significant others, hung out with Grandma and Grandpa Cady and actually got to go outside (which was a refreshing change after leaving Oklahoma's 105+ degree weather).

The first weekend I was there, I had to see my hometown's newest addition: the temple. It's beautiful! It's kind of a combination of Salt Lake City and St. George.

We spent lots of time blowing bubbles or getting wet or just letting my parents enjoy their grandkids...

This little blue-eyed baby had everyone wrapped around her finger. She's pretty charming. She and Grandpa became best buds, and with his help, she learned to walk on our trip.

'Course, Drew got in plenty of Grandpa time, too! He's still asking when he can go to Grandma's house. Too bad it's so far...

Both kids loved the piano.

My little musicians. :) We got to do lots, but I actually took a break from having my camera glued to my shoulder, so these are what I've got. We also went to Willard Bay, went up to Logan a couple of times to see Tyler and Lindsey and get some cheese from Gosner's (yeah for squeeky cheese), spent time at the park and had lots of barbecues on the deck.

Home again, home again, jiggity-jog...

2011-08-27T19:39:00.000-06:00

Whew! What an awesome month we've had, and we've started things off at home with a big week: Not only did Brent start school (ah-hem, his LAST year of school), so did Drew...

Despite his rather silly attempt at a smile outside the school after I picked him up from his first day, I think he really loves it. I had a harder time dropping him off than he did going. I can't believe my little baby Drew is big enough for school!

I think he was the most excited about his backpack. And hey, it's red. He was so excited when we bought it that he wore his "packpack" around the house for hours.

Another big thing this week -- Bryn turned one! Another I-can't-believe-my-baby's-that-big moment. Wow...

My little bebe had fun opening her presents. She got some new books and her first dollie with real hair (a Princess Presto). She also got a new big chair...

It was fun to unwrap something bigger than she is.

She loves her bigger, and I'm sure more comfortable, seat. We did a little birthday cake for her in Cedar City, so we went out for ice cream on her birthday.

Crazy week trying to get caught up with everything, plus I had my first newborn session this morning. Big, long, exhausting week....

Yes, I've got lots of pics I want to share from my trip, and they're coming. I'm afraid I'll have to leave you with an IOU. I have lots of photo editing and more taking to do. I just need some rest after this go-from-one-thing-to-another month!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-05T21:34:00.000-06:00

We had an awesome 4th of July! It was so awesome (aka tiring) that the baby slept until 10:45 this morning. We went to a parade in Bethany, then had a BBQ with friends and finished it off with some fireworks in Edmond. Hope you all had an awesome 4th, too!

I got a new lens that I've been trying out, and I'm not in love with the zoomed in end, but I'm crazy about the wide angle side of it. I really like the distortion; it's cool. Drew's legs look a mile long...

Plus it can get some seriously good shots of, well, everything. We had so much fun with our friends; our group starts with the cute redhead there on the right and goes until the pole with two flags about a third from the left.

Drew loved the parade, and especially the little flag he got to wave.

Yes, Mom, these eyes are still a brilliant blue. I think they're gonna stay that way... :)

Happy 4th of July!

Playing catch (up)...

2011-06-26T20:24:00.000-06:00

We've been rather busy, and I've been focusing on my craft blog lately, so I have a lot to catch up with. I've been trying to update both blogs on Tuesdays; apparently two blogs in one day is not going to happen...

Bryn is cruisin' like crazy, getting into all kinds of trouble. She's a lot of fun, but also the reason I can't get as much done these days.

And apparently I'm not the only one in the family with a big mouth. :)

Drew did a preschool rotation with some of his (girl)friends in the ward. It was so much fun -- I really enjoyed teaching when it was my turn, but also really enjoyed being back to one kid on all the other Mondays. This was the last time it was at our house. We had finished all our lessons, so we just got to play. The kids invented their own game playing some sort of volleyball over the ropes on our little tree, called soft volley ball.

Of course, Ady was our coach and when they weren't playing, they were cheering each other on and eating fish.

Or making faces.

We are loving summer just because there's so many fun things to do. Unfortunately, it's gotten so hot we can't even enjoy our evenings. We're in the triple digits in the foreseeable future...

Drew is daddy's big helper. He loves being out with Brent...

And do I let the baby eat grass? Why yes, yes I do. She likes it, and it means we can enjoy being outside. She doesn't eat too much, though. Hasn't made her sick, so I think we're good.

And check out those baby blues! I keep holding my breath, waiting for them to change, but hooray! Still gorgeously blue. And yes, she's well versed in using a sippy cup already. Anything involved with food, she's a natural at, and she seems to have inherited her daddy's gigantic thirst.

Of course, if her eyes change, I won't be sad for long. I'm in love with Drew's green/hazel eyes, too.

As I mentioned, Bryn is crawling, but it's never the same crawl it seems. Sometimes it's normal, sometimes it's the stink bug, and most of the time, it's this weird drag-the-left-leg crawl. Doesn't matter too much, she'll be walking in no time. She's almost as anxious as her brother to get around.

Drew started teeball three weeks ago, and he's had two games. He's a pro at dropping the bat and running to first, and he knows just how to get around the bases...

... and he's good at fielding; we just have to teach him he doesn't have to get ALL the balls. It's like a little herd of boys every time the ball goes into the field. They flock together after the ball; sometimes there's pushing, usually there's fighting over who gets to throw the ball. But at his first game they actually got three outs in an inning!

Check out that form!

And finally, Drew is in Sunbeams in Primary. He absolutely loves getting to sing with the other kids, and he's been singing "Teach Me About the Temple" almost nonstop. And funnily enough, it hasn't gotten old. Instead, it just touches me so deeply to hear him sing that song. So for a family night a few weeks ago, we took the kids to the temple so Drew could see what the song was about.

I wasn't sure how much he got out of it, only that now he'll know where we go when we say we're going to the temple. But this morning as we were getting ready for church, he came bursting into my room and said, "Mom, I need to go to the temple! I'm 12, I need to go to the temple!" He was totally listening, soaking up everything, even the fact that it was a special place and he could go in when he turned 12. I love seeing him start to understand the things we're trying to teach him...

Hope you're all enjoying your summer! Can't wait to see everyone when we come through this summer!

Please note...

2011-06-12T18:40:00.000-06:00

Did you see my tiny little update to the info about us??? It's a big deal to us: Brent is now a fourth-year dental student! We are in our FINAL year of dental school. I can't believe it! I'm so proud of my hubby; it's been a lot of hard work, but we are finally getting there!
Woohoo! Brent is now 3/4 dentist. :)

Pucker up, baby cheeks!

2011-06-07T15:31:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the absence; I really do intend to update this blog on a weekly basis, but I gave myself some leeway the last couple of weeks. I had an order for FIVE baby gifts (which turned out wonderfully, thank you) on top of four of my own. So I've been a little busy, digging myself out of a pile of yarn, flowers, cardstock, towels, etc. But I think I'm going to stick with this Etsy stuff -- seriously the most fun making all this stuff, especially for babies!

Life continues at a fast and furious pace around here. Of most significance, my husband is now 3/4 dentist. We are officially fourth years, baby! I'm so proud of him for all his hard work!

My little baby is quickly turning into an almost-toddler! And she's exploding with personality! Just look at that cheeser...

She is officially crawling -- real crawling, not army crawling or worming her way across the floor. And she's getting faster everyday; I keep finding her in unexpected places.

She can also pull herself up to standing, sometimes. It's still difficult for her but she loves to stand so she keeps trying.

She laughs, a lot, finally. She's always been very smiley, but I love, love, love to hear her laugh. And she still laughs best for her brother, whom she adores.

And today, she waved for the first time at our wonderful children's librarian while we made a quick stop to drop off/pick up books.

She loves to eat, and she can handle almost anything. Even though she still only has two teeth, she's a pro-chewer. Is it too early to enter her in an all-you-can-eat contest? I think she's got a good shot at winning...

And now for my winning shot, the pucker:

She only did it one day, at one meal. I haven't seen it since, but we were DYING! She was cracking me up! I love this little pucker, and I'm so glad I caught it with the camera because it must have been a one-time-deal kinda thing. It just reminds me of Sebastian in The Little Mermaid: "You gotta bat your eyes, like dis... You gotta pucker your lips, like dis..." Pucker? Check! Engaging blue eyes? Absolutely! Thank goodness we can also check off "extremely intimidating daddy" on the list. :)

And we can't forget to put the little man of the house in our update...

We got to meet Super Why at the zoo back in April, and I had taken a pic with my phone (because I inexplicably forgot to take my camera with me). The picture wasn't very good, very off center, and I just can't live with that. So I took another one, thought I had saved it and went on my way. When I went to text Brent this momentous occasion, the good pic was gone! I was so bummed. Well, a few weeks ago as I was constantly texting my SIL about baby stuff I was working on for her, there it was in my phone again! Mysteriously gone, mysteriously back!! Woohoo -- Drew was soooo excited to meet his super hero in person. So this is old, but I had to share.

Drew started teeball last night, and he has his first game next Tuesday. We signed him up for a summer reading program at the library, and he's already met his first two goals! Smart kid even read some of those books to me... We are also spending lots of time at our water park -- both the kids love to swim and it's been so fun trying to stay cool. :)

Well, the little princess just woke up and is calling for her mother-in-waiting, so I best attend to her demandingness... Happy June!

PT is soooooo hard...

2011-05-17T14:49:00.000-06:00

Wait, is she...?

Yep, she is.

How is this little lady not crawling yet? Good question. She is, however, really good at push ups. :) Cracks me up! She wants to crawl sooooo badly, and she's pretty mobile by worming her way across the floor, wiggling and rocking back and forth. She has actually progressed to putting her knees down from this position, and she rocks back and forth on all fours, so I'll probably be saying she's crawling by my next post. Brent keeps laughing that she's better at PT (physical training) than he is. Maybe she can pass his physical test for him...

RRaaaaaaarrrgggghhhh! I want to crawl!

It's so fun that these two can actually play together now. You should see our bathroom after bath time. Water everywhere...

For Drew's birthday, Keri gave him the best present -- his first Nerf dart gun, a six-shooter. And, of course, the boys had so much fun with it, that we had to buy daddy one, too. Then yesterday, we added a 36-pack of suction darts to our Nerf arsenal. Brent showed Drew how he could stick a dart to his head, becoming "Drewnicorn." However, Drew got it a little mixed up in his head -- he calls himself the "Drewbycorner." Now that we have a bazillion darts around, he became the "quadridrewbicorner." Say that five times fast...

Oh boy, this kids makes me laugh, every single day...

Soccer and motherhood...

2011-05-10T10:01:00.000-06:00

Sorry, I'm not going to draw any profound conclusion about how soccer is like motherhood, except now that I think of it, motherhood can sometimes feel like someone kicked you in the shins, hard, but then it gets better and you feel the thrill of victory... Well, moving on. :)

About soccer, our season is drawing to a close. We only have one more practice and one more game with the Cool Cats, so I thought I'd share the team picture I took. All the kids are looking at the camera, so I consider it a success. Just like our little team here -- I think we only made one goal all season (all because Kenz got a throw-in goal -- woohoo!), but the kids all got a lot better! So, success.

Drew went from whining about not wanting to play to being sad when he had to sit out while it was someone else's turn. Still had some tears in the last couple of games when other kids stole the ball and he subsequently tripped, but he stopped crying and got back out there. That's what's important, just like in life when you sometimes fall down.... Hehe, just kidding. No more analogies. Really.

And, of course, thanks to our lovely and talented Coach Keri for crazily volunteering for this gig and making it so much fun for the kids. Thanks Keri!

My little soccer player -- he only looks like that when I'm taking his picture. He actually loves to play...

Go Cool Cats!

And now for the motherhood part you've been anxiously waiting for. Kindly waiting for me to get around to? Sure...

We had a little somethin' this weekend, a little day to appreciate the women in your life, you know... Yes, thank you, I had a nice Mother's Day. But I couldn't help this year thinking about how blessed I am to be a mom. I was feeling kinda bad -- no, not guilt like most women seem to feel, just unhappy about a few things -- and when Drew came and snuggled up in my arms, I realized that even if everything else in my life went wrong, everything would still be ok as long as I have Drew and Bryn (and the hubby too, of course). And yes, living in tornado alley, I do think about what would happen if we got a big storm...

As long as I get to look into those blue eyes (yep, still blue and still crossing my fingers they stay that way), as long as she flashes that million-watt smile that makes strangers stop to say hello, as long as she makes happing baby noises when she wakes up in the morning..

...as long as I get to hug this little man every morning, and hear him tell me he loves me at night, as long as I get to enjoy as much of his craziness as possible during the day...

... I'll be ok, and I'll come out of things happy. Is it attitude? Because I'm trying to recognize the amazing blessings the Lord gave me? Partly. But also because I'm finally starting to see how important my mundane days are, how much I value getting to stay home with my munchkins, and because they really are the most amazing blessings.

Heavy, but hey, sometimes life is heavy, like an over-inflated soccer ball... ;) Had to throw one more in there, and I'm really just kidding with the analogies. Thought the title implied you'd get one, sorry they're super lame.

Happy Mother's Day!!

My big birthday boy -- AAAARRRGH!

2011-05-03T11:16:00.000-06:00

Ahoy mateys! We're all about pirates around here lately, so for Drew's birthday, I decided to make him a pirate outfit (see my craft blog for more about that at nutmegboutique.blogspot.com) and sent him on a treasure hunt for his birthday. He first got this little get-up -- a white shirt, a pirate vest and a red bandana.

I think he really enjoyed it -- he ran from clue to clue, and yelled, "Another present!" when he found his next package. But the last one was my favorite -- we got him a treasure chest and filled it with gold d'bloons (not sure how to spell that), a sword, a spyglass and some more presents. Now he keeps all his birthday stuff in his treasure chest. I love that he likes make believe things now!

Earlier on his birthday, we took him to the amusement park with our friends. He took a bit to warm up, but then he really liked it. Then we did presents and whatnot, and then we went to Keri's for an Easter egg hunt (she has a much more fun backyard than we do).

Drew with all of his friends -- they all had so much fun! Thanks everyone for bringing eggs. The kids definitely weren't wanting, their baskets were all full! Plus, there's just something about keeping it small with your friends in the backyard. I loved it!

Top that off with some cupcakes that we let the kids put their own sprinkles on, and I think it was a success! Drew sure enjoyed his birthday cupcake...

And his second birthday cupcake...

Although, my favorite picture is of Brinks enjoying her third cupcake. I think she hit up different adults to get the paper off so she could keep digging in. Too clever...

Bryn couldn't really get in on the action, but she loved the swing. She was in it for like two hours! And if you look close, I got a good picture of those little toothies coming in on the bottom!

Drew is such a good big brother! Sometimes I'll ask him a question, and he'll say, "I'm a big brother." He's usually so good with her (although now that she's mobile, he's having a hard time sharing his toys with her).

We had a really good Easter, too! Although Drew kept asking where his next present was. Two days of books and movies and clothes and goodies was a lot of fun, he didn't want it to end! The kids got plenty of good stuff, and plenty of candy. Drew got into my stash of peeps, and left behind a bit of carnage -- he only bit off the heads!

Hope you all had a great Easter weekend!

IOU some photos...

2011-04-24T14:29:00.000-06:00

Yep, I missed last week, and all you get this week is an IOU for some pics... It's been a little crazy, aka I'm trying to get some craft projects done. I know, I know -- you're totally surprised that I'm up to my eyeballs in fabric and paper, glue and thread. I'm always a happier girl when I'm busy with fun stuff.

A little update: Bryn now has two little chompers on the upside of her gums (Can I get a hallelujah?! No more teething for the time being), and they're growing in quickly! She turned 8 months yesterday, and she wants to crawl so very badly. It won't be long now and she'll be cruising all over the house...

Drew had a big day yesterday -- my little man is FOUR! We did all kinds of fun things -- like headed to the amusement park with our friends, had an egg hunt with lots of friends and had a piratey-good present treasure hunt, complete with a pirate outfit that he didn't take off the rest of the day. Aaaaarrrgh!

Alright, just so you're not totally disappointed, here's a little sumthin'-sumthin' for ya... Drew has been dressing up like a pirate for weeks (he just has the official garb now), so here's his makeshift bandana he's been wearing. He actually wore this bandana to soccer practice the other night, and he didn't look like a pirate -- he looked like a dancer out of an '80s music video. Man, I love this kid...

It's been so nice around here, that we go out and enjoy the small patch of nice grass in our backyard. This little girl just adores her daddy. In fact, when we were in the car on the way to softball on Friday, she was practicing her newfound babbling. She kept saying, "Dadadadadadada," and I told her that I'm not cool with that. She needs to say "mama" first. Then the baby actually laughed at me. Yeah, serious trouble with this one, I can feel it coming...

Sorry, but that's all you get. I've got a sister-in-law in Ohio who will probably come down and pelt me with buckeyes if I don't get her photos edited this week (sorry I'm slow, Mel! I haven't forgotten you...). So I have some editing to do before I can even download my next batch of pics -- come back for birthday photo fun next week! :)

Ah, April...

2011-04-10T15:19:00.000-06:00

April is going to be a fun month for us -- and busy! I'm enjoying the warm weather, but not the wind. Oh, well, I'll take what I can get -- enjoying some spring weather before it becomes ridiculously hot. This week has been busy with craft projects and sports. Drew has soccer practice on Thursdays and games on Saturdays, and Brent and I are playing softball Friday nights with our dental and ward friends.

Look at that soccer pose! Drew has really started liking soccer. He was really sad when he had to sit down; he told me, "Mom, I just want to play..." When he gets out there, he's so anxious to kick the ball that he doesn't use his small kicks, just kicks the ball hard; that unfortunately means the ball usually goes out of bounds.

A little story behind this awesome photo: This kid on the other team, the one falling to the ground on the right side, was deemed "the bully" because he took down a kid by his jersey -- from his own team -- to get to the ball. Sure, this kid might be nice usually and just really wanted the ball, but we didn't feel so bad when Drew took him down (not by the jersey, just by getting in there and getting the ball). Go Drew!

We took some team pics after the game. I got some good ones of all the kids, just not together. :) Haha! Don't worry -- there's a team photo, just don't expect all the kids to be smiling. I was just happy I got a few where they were all looking in my general direction...

Also this week I did another shoot with Bryn for a little project I'm working on (which I'll share after the first of May, ahem, so as to not ruin any surprises). But I had to share this -- Bryn got her Easter dress early because when the baby grows inches every week, you have to wear those cute clothes while they fit! This is what she wore to church today and she looked pretty cute!

And this is from last week when Julie stopped by for a quick visit. Drew loved having Ace around, even if it was only for a few hours. He was throwing his toy for him in the back yarn, then he'd tell him very sternly, "Drop it!" He was so excited Julie came to see us -- I don't know how much he remembers her, but when he woke up and I told him Aunt Julie was here, he went straight to the living room and snuggled up to her on the blow-up mattress!

More Spring Break...

2011-04-03T21:42:00.000-06:00

Not much happened this week until this weekend -- my sister-in-law stopped by for a very short but very appreciated visit on her way to Ohio this weekend. We'll see her again in September, though, so we'll at least have that to look forward to. :) Love you, Julie! Bryn's two bottom centrals are coming in and she's not a happy teether, but she's otherwise doing great. I turned Drew's paperwork in for preK in the fall -- how weird! Also, Drew's second soccer game (yesterday) went really well. I'll post some soccer pics soon...

A funny moment this week: Friday morning, Drew woke up crying (he seems to usually get his nightmares right before he wakes up), so I went in to comfort him and make him feel better. I tried to get him to tell me what his dream was about.
"What did you dream about?"
"I was dreaming about... noodles."
"Noodles?"
"Yeah, I was finally having the noodle dream."
Haha! We were having a conversation directly out of Kung Fu Panda, Drew's current fav movie. He was just crying, and he went straight into the movie quotes. He cracks me up!

So more catching up on Spring Break. My brother- and sister-in-law came down from Ohio to spend a whole week with us, and we had soooo much fun! We went to Bricktown, the zoo and Lake Arcadia. I got to spend time spoiling my three nephews, and I was so happy to meet my newest one who was born just a few weeks after Bryn.

Our newest little chunky monkey -- I'm glad he likes to snuggle, because mine doesn't!

This is my new favorite picture. Drew had sooooo much fun with his cousins -- he still keeps talking about them. We were up at Arcadia Lake, and the boys were being so silly. I'm glad I had my camera because this is one of those priceless moments.

Their hands and faces are covered with smores. They just all sat together on the picnic table and were giggling. I asked them if they liked smores, and all three yelled, "Yeeeeaaaaaaaaahhh!" So I kept asking them questions and they kept giving me the same answer while they showed me their messy fingers. They had such a good time together.

Seriously, what's better than your cousins?

This was in Bricktown along the Riverwalk. We fed some ducks, ate some barbecue and enjoyed hanging out...

These boys and their daddy... What a lucky bunch to have each other!

This is also a favorite! It makes my heart almost burst to see the way Drew and Bryn look at each other sometimes. I was so concerned that Drew would be jealous, that Bryn would be indifferent, and yet in such a short time, they really adore each other. Bryn will laugh for Drew like she will for no one else -- I just love it!

We also had to visit the zoo -- our elephants are back (they were gone before we moved to Oklahoma, so we're excited they're finally in the zoo).

Haha! This is why I miss you guys so much... :)

Really, they're normal... sometimes.

My sister-in-law's sister also lives here, so we got to hang out with them a lot too. Bonus: They had a pool and fed us smoked ribs and chicken. Heavenly...

It was cold, but Drew had a blast, and he's getting so good swimming on his own (with life jacket, of course).

All the boys loved the zoo, especially all the fun statues to climb on.

But walking around a giant zoo is tiring. I had Bryn in my single, so these guys had to compete for space in the double. :)

L is showing me what a tiger says... ROAR!

Oh, so much fun seeing them again! Thanks again for coming to see us -- it was an awesome Spring Break, and we miss you so much! For a few more pics (if you're not already sick of them all), check out my new craft blog to see a fun project I did with the boys while they were here.

Spring Break -- Woohoo!!!!

2011-03-27T13:49:00.000-06:00

Spring Break was awesome, wonderful, spectacular... It was too big to put in one post, so you'll get the first snipit!

First off, we went to Kansas City with some of my favorite people to Great Wolf Lodge -- sooooo much fun! Exhausting, too, but totally worth it! :)

Bryn on our bed in the hotel room getting dressed to go swimming for the first time. Isn't she too cute in this little get-up? We lucked out and our room was ready before we went to the water park...

Bryn and daddy in the kiddie pool

Keri and Brinkers

Drew and Ady

Drew LOVED the kiddie slides, although he was really brave and went down some of the big scary slides on his own and with us

Daddy, Bryn, Drew and Zack chillin' in the kiddie pool (yes, this is where we spent a lot of time because the kids could stand up and go down the slides by themselves)

Daddy trying to get Bryn to float on her back

The next morning, the kids waiting out on our balcony for all of us to get ready to go swimming

Bryn always has a smile for daddy :)

Brinks going down the slide all by herself!

Bryn loved the water!

Drew really enjoyed the first day, but I think from lack of sleep, he just wasn't having it the second day. He didn't want to get back in the water after lunch, so we hung out by the chairs and finally headed home because we couldn't convince him to swim any more.

Because it was all indoors, it was loud! But that's perfect for our little lady, who needs white noise to sleep. I got her to crash while we were eating lunch. So comfy...

Please ignore my hair (it had been in a ponytail so it's crazy), but me and my little munchkin

Thanks for going with us guys! It was a great trip! I'm up for Great Wolf any time. :)

When did I get a new baby?

2011-03-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'm glad to report that both kids are feeling better (yes, Drew got both Bryn's RSV and earache). But the best thing about this week? Bryn has been sitting up, supported, for a while, but as of Tuesday, she sits up completely on her own for long periods of time -- and it's like someone traded her out for a different baby!

She's still my little drama queen, but overall, she's so much happier! Still not laughing a whole lot, except for other kids, but so happy! She will sit on the floor and play with her blocks or chewy ring and be content forever -- it's been a world of difference!

I think she's just been wanting to move for so long; she learned to roll quite early, but she would go to her belly and not roll back. She doesn't like her belly; she complains about being on her belly. She doesn't like to be on her back; she complained about that too. So I think she finally worked up the muscle to get what she wanted, and now she's happy -- and I love it. She's so pleased with herself, and for me, it's a little easier to play with her and interact with her.

We also made plans to do something super fun for spring break, so I should have some fun pictures for next week! I am sooooo excited -- spring break, woohoo!

Goodbye, you horrible week...

2011-03-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

This would be one of those weeks I would erase if I could. Bryn has been very sick, and either that or the extra attention she received bothered Drew -- a lot. That and very little sleep for me made for a very cranky mommy! But to add a few good moments, Drew got to start soccer finally, although his game was cancelled because it was way too cold to play yesterday. Sorry, no pics -- I was going to take some at the game, but then we didn't have one. I did get in a few pictures with my little missy...

I'm a little biased, but what a cutie! I've got a few more on my photography blog (megtalbotphotography.blogspot.com).

Also, I got to talk to my sis-in-law this week about their trip out here in just a few weeks -- I'm soooooo excited!

Drew is "dangerous"...

2011-02-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

We've had a quiet but busy week! I felt like I hardly got to see Brent for three days -- I had my serger class on Monday and some other stuff in the evening, and Brent was busy studying for several tests. But then we finally got to go on a date on Friday (thanks, Keri!) to see the new Harry Potter movie, which I absolutely loved! We've had both warm and cold weather this week, so we've spent some time inside and outside.

Drew was supposed to start soccer on Thurdsay, but we had yucky weather that day so his practice was cancelled. We'll get to start next week. But this kid is always happy to go outside and hit his ball -- he can hit it almost every time while it's moving! We bought Drew his first mitt yesterday; he and Brent were playing catch outside for a good while. He loves it! Catching is hard, but he's got a great arm...

Such a handsome little man, and a silly one, too! While we were sitting outside, he came and sat by me and Bryn, who was in the bumbo. She absolutely adores her big brother, and she was so excited he was close by that she tried to grab him. He didn't want her grabbing at his legs, so he told her, "Let go of my pants! That's dangerous..." I was laughing soooo hard!

Bryn turned 6 months old on Wednesday, and she went in for her checkup on Thursday. She's almost 18 pounds and 26 inches long. She's growing great and developing well. She can sit up as long as she's supported, and she wants to crawl so bad, but she mostly lays on her belly and swims in the air while she voices her frustration at being stationary.

So slobbery, but she's not teething -- I can't imagine it getting worse, but I'm sure it will. She laughs a little more, but you still have to work hard to get it out of her. She has the most beautiful blue eyes and a brilliant smile.

Drew finally got the hat I've been promising him (I've been making a lot for my shop and for friends and he's my guinea pig to try them on, and everytime he tells me it's HIS hat and he wants it). I made him an Indians hat, and he wears it everywhere!

In the middle of February???

2011-02-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

That's right: We went camping in the middle of February! We went down to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area with our friends Jordan and Katrina and their little cutie and it was perfect weather -- no wind and it didn't get too cold at night.

Drew and E are great friends -- Drew plays better with her than anyone else, I think! He's so good with the younger kids. E and Drew built a tower out of our fire wood.

Jordan made us the best breakfast sandwiches -- even Bryn wanted a bite! I like camping food, but it's better when Jordan cooks!

We walked from our campsite over to Veteran's Lake. It was windy but lots of fun -- especially for Drew, who was in rock-throwing heaven.

I think this is my favorite picture! E is pretty serious around me, pretty shy, so I have a hard time getting a smile. When Katrina busted out that box of raisins, she was so happy about it!

Jordan, Katrina and E as we were hiking Bromide Hill

Bryn was hiding, but she's there!

Go figure -- Brent's taking the low road... :)

Drewby and his daddy -- we had him completely worn out after Bromide Hill and walking around the lake and playing football and soccer with his friend J. He slept the entire way home. So fun to get out and enjoy the weather in the middle of winter!

I can feel it in the air...

2011-02-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

Wahoo! Can you feel it? Baseball season is around the corner. And to kick things off:

Bryn can finally fit into her Indians uniform! Thanks Aunt Julie!! She's way too cute in this get-up.

Uncle Mitch reported to Spring Training this week and we're so excited for another season. We're definitely planning a trip to see him this year in either Kansas City or Dallas (Arlington). Good luck, Mitch!

Here's my picture of the week for last week (a little late). We took the kids to the park on Saturday because it was starting to warm up, and we put Bryn in the swing for the first time. She loved it! This girl just always wants to be moving...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

Missed yesterday, but here's a little someting to make up for it...

Happy Valentine's Day from our little cuties!

Cabin fever...

2011-02-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

Wow! Crazy weather week!! I thought I had seen a good amount of what the plains can deliver as far as some crazy weather, but my eyes are opened once more...

Our last weekend was awesome -- 76 degrees, lots of time outside and a great trip to Arcadia Lake for a barbecue with some of our ward friends...

I know, I know, more baby toes. But they're so cute! Brent accuses me that no one will know what her face looks like because all I take pictures of is her feet. Not true, keep scrolling...

Oh! I just love those baby blues; we'll see in a month or two here if they start to change. And I love this floppy hat -- thanks, Tisha! It's perfect!

And Drew was doing what Drew loves best -- throwing stuff. There weren't any good rocks, so he was just throwing sand, but I don't think he cares. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset...

America's Next Top Model!

I love the warm weather! I must say, a nice looking little family. :)

Love hanging out with you guys! I'll email you the pics when I get around to editing them. :)

Love hanging out with you, too!

Then came the blizzard of 2011 just three days later. It felt like doomsday! The media were telling us to get prepared, it was packed at the grocery stores and gas stations, and there was this feeling of impending danger in the air. We were ready, but it was just crazy when it hit on Tuesday. Not a ton of snow, but lots of wind creating these huge drifts.

The snow practically covered Drew's window. The drift between our house and the neighbor's ended up getting around 6 feet tall.

A guy up the street thought he was going somewhere -- being experienced with snow, we knew he wasn't. This drift was as high as his car hood and he was sliding everywhere. Sorry, buddy, you're not going anywhere. He tried and tried and tried, and we laughed and laughed and laughed -- except when he was fishtailing right at our mailbox. No damage, thank goodness. Then he tried driving on the sidewalk/yard across the street and got his car completely stuck. He even tried a dirt shovel. It was quite entertaining...

We ended up spending the entire week in the house. I though Drew was going to start jumping off the walls, literally. I finally bundled him up and sent him out to play on Friday; I should have done it sooner, but it was so cold! It was -16 degrees with the wind chill! We finally got out Friday evening to make a run for the store just because we were soooo sick of being cooped up. Then yesterday was gorgeous, ran a lot of errands in 47 degree weather, had our friends over for some pre-Super Bowl bean dip. But no big thaw for us -- we're supposed to get a comparable storm on Wednesday... Yikes!

Having a bad day?

2011-01-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't have a week of bad days, but you'd think we were having a bad day in this picture! We had a great week actually, and this weekend was perfect! Brent got done with school early on Friday, and we enjoyed some beautiful 76-degree weather.

I heard back on a writing contest I entered this week (unfortunately, not the results I was hoping for), but it was a reminder that I have been neglecting my writing skills. So I'm going to try to practice writing more often, and to go with a writing project, I wanted to illustrate it by trying out a popular shot of kids on the ground in a circle. This was my first shot, and let's just say our circle of kids was quickly reduced...

Bryn was actually happy enjoying the warm weather in our little patch of super soft grass.

But we ended up getting our little group of friends together after a trip to the park and right before nap time. Our one little non-cryer on the bottom soon joined with the tears...

It didn't turn out exactly as I had pictured, but I got some good shots and it was good practice. :) This week was full of fun stuff -- I've been getting a lot done for my Etsy shop, practicing photography, and having fun with the kiddos.

After this, we had a nice afternoon, went out to dinner with our friends and had some awesome dessert (thanks Trina!). Then Saturday we tried to spend some time outside in our second day of 70-degree weather. We even had a barbecue on a beach Saturday evening -- perfect! Of course, I also had to make sure we had everything we need for the next week -- we're expecting an ice storm on Tuesday. Go figure!

Some good lookin' kids...

2011-01-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

I've really been enjoying my dabblings in photography. It's been a huge help (at least I think) with my product shots for my Etsy shop. I'm lucky to have two magnificent subjects to practice on. Really, where did these good looking kids come from? Bryn is 5 months old today! She's been rolling over for a while, and she sat up by herself for the first time this week. She started blowing raspberries and she wants to reach out and grab everything. She's so sweet! I just love watching her do more every day.

And let's not forget this little man! He has the most stunning green eyes. He usually runs when I grab my Rebel, but lately, he wants to hop in front of whatever I'm photographing. I hope this means he'll make it a little easier for me to photograph. He's now officially potty trained -- took us a while, but he's been accident free for like three weeks now! We just signed him up for soccer; I think he's going to love it! But, of course, we're really looking forward to baseball season. So enjoying my munchkins! They're both at such fun ages, and I'm extraordinarily lucky to stay home and do things I enjoy while hanging out with my kiddos!

Yuck for being sick...

2011-01-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

We've had a really loooooong week! Brent started school this week, although just like last semester, he missed the first two days. But this time, it's because he was sick. I started this little sick round just before New Year's with a cold. No one had gotten it for more than a week, so I was hoping I'd be the only one...

Well, Brent got my cold and some kind of stomach bug on Monday, then on Thursday night, our little man woke up very sick...

I had finally caught up on laundry and dishes this week, which is a huge accomplishment. After one night, my laundry pile looked like this...

But no worries...

My little super hero was back to his normal self by Friday. Unfortunately, that's when this little stomach bug came full circle and I got it...

Want to play marbles, Mom?

As always, I got it worse than anyone, but I think I'm finally past the worst of it. Being sick like this is the worst for me, but so far the baby has not been included (cross your fingers, knock on wood, say your prayers that it stays that way!)...

Brent and Drew were finally feeling better enough to take care of me and build a marble tower truly worthy of our little Super Drew...

Picture of the week...

2011-01-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

My friend Kristen had an awesome idea to do a picture of the day -- a big challenge, but a great way to document what's going on in your life. I'm certainly not up for that with trying to do my etsy stuff and maybe get back to writing, but I loved the idea. So my goal is to try to capture a picture of the week, something that shows what's happening in our life that week. Plus, it's a great motivation to pick up my camera and keep practicing.

So what happened this week?

This little one started eating solid food. She really liked it the first time, then the second time she did what I thought she would and used her tongue to push everything out. But she likes sitting at the table and she likes eating while we do.

Oh, those cheeks are so yummy! Bryn is so much fun; she's starting to laugh but doesn't do it much. But she smiles all the time! She's rolling like crazy and loves to be in the walker so she can stand up. I'm hoping those pretty eyes stay blue...

Wonderful holidays...

2011-01-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

We've had a wonderful break! We definitely missed everyone, but we really enjoyed our time together during Brent's break. I'm sad he has to go back to school tomorrow...

Drew was really excited about Christmas this year. He was spoiled by all the grandmas and aunts and got cars, clothes, books, movies and all kinds of things! He got plenty of Super Why stuff...

Bryn even got a few toys, but mostly clothes and books. Thanks everyone, for your generosity. The kids are definitely spoiled! :)

We got lots of projects done -- including making some shelves for our millions of minibats and reorganizing the office, and we got to do lots of fun things, like go to the zoo, the park and the mall and we've had tons of ice cream. That was Drew's reward for doing well with potty training, and now that he's really getting the hang of it, we've had lots of ice cream... Brent's new toy is a drill press, and we finally got Drew's baseball jimmy-rigged so he can go out back and hit when he wants to.

The bulk of our break was spent helping Drew with the potty training and implementing a new reward system -- Drew gets a red fuzzy when he's good, and we take one away when he's misbehaving. And we made a chart and hung it on the fridge: Drew's Fuzzy Rewards. He was so excited he would read off the rewards he could earn every day. Sometimes he just reads off the list to himself at random times -- small treat, computer time, stickers, trip to the park, ice cream and the big one: a trip to the toy store. We set a goal when we started, and he wanted to go for the big reward. He earned 50 fuzzies in about a week and a half. So we went to Toys R Us, and he got to pick out something. He settled on a track and car launcher...

He's so excited about what he earned! It was the best watching him run through the toy store, considering what he could get. He was soooo happy! And I think he really appreciated it because he earned it. When we got home and I emptied the fuzzy jar and asked him what he wanted to work for this time, he yelled, "Toy store!"

I feel like by staying home this year, we really got to enjoy our little kiddos. Drew and Bryn are so wonderful -- and we got three weeks to just be together. How I love those little faces!!!

Merry Christmas Eve!

2010-12-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

It's almost Christmas and we are so excited! Every time we turn on the Christmas tree lights, Drew gets so excited; he loves the lights, says something about the star on top and then discovers the presents underneath and gets even more excited -- every time. I love it!

We really miss all of you, but we're enjoying our first Christmas at home. Monday was in the 70s and an absolutely gorgeous day, so we went to the zoo where we fed the ducks and played on the playground. It was perfect! We've also enjoyed plenty of Christmas movies and last night we drove around looking at Christmas lights while enjoying some ice cream to celebrate a completely dry day for Drew (two days in a row -- we're making progress!).

Sorry we didn't do a family newsletter this year; the holidays got a little too crazy for me, so you're lucky to even get our Christmas card. :) But I can't help reflecting on our past year. It was one year ago that we found out our little family was going to change. It was a really difficult year, but now I have a beautiful, smiling, rolling-over 4 month old that I adore more each day.

Drew is getting smarter and more athletic and handsomer every day. I don't know where this kid came from, honestly! We love him so much, even with his slightly violent 3-year-old tantrums. (Please don't mind the underwear; we're potty-training.)

After having Bryn, I've been able to get back into all the things I enjoy, like photography, writing, sewing and paper crafts. I've still got a lot of things to work on with my photography (like proper focus in the picture above), but I feel like I'm really finding my style with kids and family portraits. I've also been doing a preschool with my friends and it's so much fun! I get four Monday mornings off, then I get all the kids for a morning. Drew has a blast! And it's good prep for him -- he starts preK in the fall!!!

Brent hasn't had much time for anything except school, but that's what makes this break so much better -- three full weeks of time with my hubby! We only have three semesters plus a summer left and we'll be done! He's been working so hard. And from now on, he just gets more and more clinic time, which I think he enjoys much more than class.

We hope all of you are enjoying your holidays as much as we are enjoying ours! Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving break...

2010-11-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

I knew this week would go fast, and here we are at the end of it. My parents came out for the week and we've had so much fun! We went to the science museum, miniature golfing and feeding the ducks at the park. We also got in some photo shoots at the park, so I actually have pics of us now!

But today was best of all -- today we blessed Bryn with my dad and a few of the guys from our Okie family. She was so beautiful in her little white dress (which I was sooo pleased fit her perfectly!).

But the perfect part: My best friend sent me a bracelet to accessorize this sweet little getup...

We definitely missed all our family today; it's hard that we're so far out here, but we're so glad our other "family" could be here with us. Thanks Jordan and Katrina, Zack and Keri!

This little girl just adores her grandpa! She breaks out the big grins every time she hears his voice!

I adore my little squishy! She's laughed twice now -- I'm dying to hear it again. She's up to 13.5 pounds and she's three months old. And Drew has reached a milestone too: Potty training. We're taking it kind of slow, but he knows how to do it when he wants to. I haven't been brave enough to leave the house without him in diapers, though.

We're looking forward to Christmas; we'll be staying home this year (more missing our family and friends), but we're looking forward to taking the holidays easy and just enjoying Brent's time off from school. We already celebrated Christmas while my parents were here, so the tree is already up and we got to unwrap presents -- sooooo fun!

I got it!

2010-11-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

I've been hunting it for weeks, and I finally captured it! That elusive baby smile, so readily given to me when I'm not hiding behind a camera, has escaped me every time I pull out my big silver wonder. But today -- triumph! It took plenty of work, but enjoy the fruits of my labor...

This adorable little thing is so much fun! She sleeps soooo good at night, and she's starting to make all these great little baby noises. She's not really smiley, but that makes it all the better when she does it. She's kind of a drama queen, but she's a girl. From what I hear those two go hand-in-hand. Hopefully there will be many more photos like this to share soon...

Holiday bustlings...

2010-11-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the holidays are upon us! There's a place up in Edmond that already has all their Christmas decorations up!

Well, I finally took my sister-in-law's advice and opened an Etsy shop -- you can see my listings and link to my shop in the box on the left. I'm selling handmade cards and baby beanies right now. I guess we'll see how it goes; I'm actually really nervous about it!

Wish me luck! I'm also starting things up in photography, too. I've already had two shoots, and I have two more scheduled and two more ready to be scheduled! So I think it's time after these shoots to finally start charging. I'm really enjoying taking all these family and portrait pictures! I'll put pics from each of my sessions on my photo blog (link at left).

We're so excited for Thanksgiving because not only could we use a little break, but my parents are coming out to see us. I hope we have good weather because there's so much stuff we want to do!

We're adjusting to life pretty well with two kids (at least Brent and I can play man-to-man defense with two). Bryn LOVES her big brother, who is always trying to help me out. I love it!

Whenever Drew is around, Bryn's eyes are right on him. And the other night when we said prayers before bedtime, Brent was holding Bryn and Drew wanted to sit on his lap; Brent let him climb on and put Bryn on Drew's lap. Drew just wrapped his arms tight around his little sister and just held her -- of course, I was in tears because it was just so sweet to see these two already love each other. Our kiddos are so fun! We're so tired, but really, really enjoying these little ones!

Happy happy Halloween!

2010-10-27T16:13:00.000-06:00

We are soooo ready for Halloween at our house! We got to decorate our yard with some tombstones and spider webs, and we added some pumpkins to our decor...

Brent even used his dental skills to pour up the hand coming out of the ground. He got some water colors and made it look really creepy!

We got to wear our costumes to our ward Halloween party last weekend, and we won the "Most Original" award for our family of Jedis. Bryn definitely got the most reactions -- but hey, she's super cute with her Leia buns -- but I think they all turned out well. I'll try to get some family pics this weekend, but here's a little preview of our Padawan Drew.

He LOVES having a lightsaber! We're so excited for the party my friend is throwing this weekend, and we're going to check out some OKC Halloween activities downtown with another friend. Everyone have an awesome weekend!!!

There are witches in the air...

2010-10-14T18:21:00.000-06:00

Halloween is here! We got our decorations up -- we're so excited to have a house to decorate! We got some tombstones and spider web for the front yard. Brent even made a stone cast of his hand so it looks like someone's trying to claw their way out of our grass!

Drew and Brent will be wearing their Jedi costumes from last year, and so I only had to do costumes for me and Bryn this year. I finished up our costumes last night, and I'm so excited. Thought I'd put a little preview of our little Princess Leia on here -- she turned out so cute! I'm just so excited it turned out well; I didn't have a pattern.

Woohoo! So excited for some trick-or-treating and costume partying!!!

Best weekend ever...

2010-10-05T21:14:00.001-06:00

This has been one of the best weekends I've had in a while -- it's been just fantastic! First, Brent had Friday off from school (in Utah you get a day off to shoot deer, here you get it off for football). Our friends had the awesome idea to take advantage of the extra day by going camping. So I met Brent at school Thursday evening for Dentfest (you get free stuff and food); Brent bought me an OU Denstistry shirt, which I've been begging for, and he even won a set of dental tools! Then we headed straight out to Red Rock Canyon, which is only about an hour away, for some time out of the city...

Girls! Drew with his best friends, Ady and Brinks.

We feel so lucky to have the friends we do! We always have so much fun with them...

Keri and Zack...

Katrina and E...

Bryn did so well -- she slept just as well as she does at home, and she seemed to enjoy being outside. It's hard to tell, seeing as how she's only six weeks old. She slept in her car seat and stayed nice and toasty. And yes, she's getting big so fast...

Drew and Ady, enjoying some lemonade on the table. This is what camping is all about! :)

Couldn't forget Brinks! She wanted to get in on the picture, too...

My little Brynnie Winnie -- she's starting to hold her head up really well and to look at us. She smiled for the first time on Sunday!

We can't forget Jimmy and Camila's "kid," Ginger. She was a big hit with all the kids -- they loved her!

We camped in this awesome little cove in red rocks, which reminded me of southern Utah. Everyone was climbing up at the far end of the cove. Zack, Brinks and Keri...

Katrina and E in the tree...

Drew in the tree -- it looks like he's showing off those dirty little hands, but he's actually saying, "Ok, ten more minutes and then it's time to go." I guess I tell him that a lot...

Zack, Ady, Brinks and Keri...

Camila, Ginger and Jimmy...

Huh???

E had soooo much fun camping! She got just as dirty as the big kids.

We had so much fun. We only stayed the one night, and left by early afternoon the next day, but it was so nice to get out and do something fun. I feel like I've spent so much time at home being so uncomfortable over the summer with my pregnancy and now keeping Bryn at home.

We went out for dinner on Friday and then watched a movie at home. Saturday I got to start rehearsals for our Christmas cantata, then I did a little shopping for non-maternity clothes. :) It's nice to wear normal stuff again! Saturday night, Bryn slept a whopping 10.5 hours!!! Brent made me pancakes Sunday morning, and I got to watch church in my jammies. It was all very good... Hurray for awesome weekends!

Brynnie Winnie...

2010-09-26T11:04:00.000-06:00

I'm so glad to finally have my little girl! I have to admit I was a little bummed -- just a little -- when I was going through Drew's old clothes to give away, thinking we wouldn't have another little boy to wear those cute blue things with baseballs. But when I put Bryn in her Sunday dress for church last week and slapped a headband on her head, I couldn't believe how much fun it was to get her all cutsied up!

Ahhhh... Such a sweet little angel, or is she?

Yep, she's got an attitude and my set of lungs. We're definitely in trouble with this one. :) Don't know why, but I love this picture, even though I'll be the first one to admit she is sooooo not cute when she's screaming.

Mom, what am I wearing??? We're opting for a less fruffy dress for church today, but for her first couple of Sundays, she had to wear this sweet dress from Aunt Sarah.

We've been enjoying the slightly cooler weather as fall thinks about maybe coming to Oklahoma. We got a double stroller to take the kids walking, and we've been finding all kinds of "friends" in our yard, including this little garden snake.

I've been working on a project for my friend, who's decorating the low-income clinic here. I told her I would donate some of my pictures, and I decided to do a series focusing on baby bellies and little hands and feet. I have most of what I want, but I, of course, needed to get some really tiny hands and feet pictures of Bryn. I haven't gotten a chance to edit them and pick my favorites yet, but here's some that I liked. Check out my photography blog, megtalbotphotography.blogspot.com, to see my selections in a week or so...

I also got my first prime lens in the mail yesterday, and I'm sooooo excited to learn how to use it! Just playing around with it yesterday I can see a huge difference!

Drew's holding up his new lightsaber that we bought at the state fair (we went with our friends the Larsons and the Hansens on Tuesday this week). He LOVES this thing! I was going to let him pick a ride to ride, but the kids were getting grumpy, so we thought we'd just head home. I saw a toy booth on the way out and decided we would let Drew pick out a toy instead. He chose this green, light-up sword; he now sleeps with it every night...

Drew has been the best big brother. I really thought he would have some jealousy issues; he's been an only child for a little more than three years, and he's an attention hog. I was preparing myself for some big fights and having to protect Bryn from his potential physical outbursts, but so far, he's been a very sweet, helpful and wonderful big brother. I am so blessed to have this sweet kid...

Bryn's definitely a handful, but I think things will get easier as we all figure out her needs a little better. But no big complaints -- she slept 8 hours two nights in a row, and went 6 hours last night. I hope she keeps that up!

Before and after...

2010-09-07T17:27:00.000-06:00

Here's my big baby belly. We tried to get a lot of pictures with Drew but it was hard; thank goodness we at least got one, but that's it. :)

I like this angle because it makes me feel not so big, but Bryn was taking up a fair chunk of space. There's the before, and here's the after...

Here's our little sweetie. So far, she's a good eater and a fair sleeper, although I wish she would sleep a little more. :) And I think the mother's curse has come full circle -- she's got my lungs (aka, she is LOUD). She already has "the lip" down, and she has a beautiful smile. Brent is pretty sure she looks like Drew, but I don't really agree. I can't tell who she looks like; I guess we'll have to wait and see...

Here's the picture I put on Bryn's announcements. I'm so glad she's finally here -- and that I'm not pregnant anymore! Not really excited about the sleepless nights, but thanks to my mom and in-laws helping us out the last couple of weeks, I'm feeling better than I have in months. Welcome to our little family, Brynlee Austen...

More baby pics...

2010-08-26T16:41:00.000-06:00

I think we broke our camera. :( Not our nice big Rebel, thank goodness, but our little Canon point-and-shoot. I can't load the pictures I took, and the later ones are out of focus. Boo...

But you can see some really cute pictures of our new little one at this website: http://www.our365.com/. Search for us by hospital (it didn't work when I tried to find it by searching by mother) -- enter the birth date (Aug. 23) and our city. Then click on Mercy Hospital. That should bring up my name. Just click on us and you can see the pictures an Our365 rep took on Tuesday. They turned out pretty cute. :)

Goodbye, baby belly!

2010-08-25T16:47:00.001-06:00

Our little girl is finally here! She was born on Monday; she's a whopping 8 lbs. 13 oz. and 20.5 inches long.

Everything went well. I was induced around 6 a.m. on Monday; everything started going quickly after the doctor broke my water just before 9. I got my epidural around 10, and she was born at 12:56 p.m. She came very quickly -- only six pushes! She's doing well, and I'm doing about as good as I expected given what I did on Monday. :) Thanks for all the congratulations and well wishes. We're excited she's here, and Drew's been a great little helper. My in-laws have been in town since Saturday, and we couldn't do it without them! I'm so glad they're here. Then I get another week with my mom, so I'm feeling super lucky to have all the help, especially because Brent started school today.

Drew came to see us Monday night; I have the sweetest little munchkins -- I feel so blessed!

It's almost baby time...

2010-08-20T21:19:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to brag a little bit: I made this!

Here is Bryn's blessing dress (no idea when we'll be blessing her, though). That was my big project for the summer. I took it up to my mom's because she has a serger and I wanted to do a really good job with this. It's nothing too fancy, but I'm just glad I could make something special for my new little girl. I was so happy with the way it turned out -- it has a satin lining and I even hand-stitched the hem. :)

I went to my last doctor's appointment today, and despite previous signs, I don't think the baby is coming early (1.5 cm dialated, hardly effaced). So we'll be headed to the hospital bright and early Monday morning for an induction. My in-laws are on their way here, and we get to keep them for a whole week! Then my mom is headed out next weekend, and we get to keep her for another week. I'm so grateful our family is finding a way to come out and help -- I really miss them and it will be so nice to have the extra hands. Plus, it's fun they get to meet their new granddaughter (a girl is a rarity on both sides of our family). Wish me luck -- I'm so ready to not be pregnant anymore, but I am also very, very nervous about the whole process of being not being pregnant and the adjustment to two kids...

Fourth of July

2010-08-12T15:46:00.000-06:00

We had a great Fourth of July! We were lucky enough that Brent got to take a break from the Texas heat and fly to Utah to be with us for the holiday weekend.

I didn't think Drew would like sparklers, so we decided to try pops. He loved them! Of course, it didn't help that Brent and my brother were throwing them at each others' feet -- always teaching the kids something bad. :) When it came time to do our own little fireworks show, Drew wasn't so happy. He wouldn't let Brent let go of him, and he kept begging to go inside. He doesn't like fireworks...

But the little pops were too much fun. I'm so glad Tyler and Lindsey got to come up and hang out with us. I have to add that the Fourth took on special meaning this year. Now I can really appreciate the sacrifice so many people are making to have their military loved ones away to protect us -- and my sacrifice was significantly less than most other military wives. I am glad that we can do some small part to support our troops with our service, and I'm so grateful for all those who are serving their country.

Quick baby update...

2010-08-05T10:12:00.000-06:00

I have some belly pics to share, but until I can get them posted, I thought I ought to update everyone on the baby situation. I'm due Aug. 28, but Bryn is measuring a week ahead. We have a scheduled induction on Aug. 23 -- yeah, that's also the first day of school, but it's the earliest they'd take me. I have also shown signs of going early, so while I'm planning on the 23rd, I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up even earlier. We'll keep everyone posted!

Fun at Willard Bay...

2010-08-05T10:01:00.000-06:00

Brent got to fly up to Utah to be with Drew and me for the Fourth of July weekend. On that Saturday, we got to go play with my parents' new toy: the waverunner. We had lots of fun! It was cooler, which was nice for me. I wasn't sure how Drew would react -- he loves water, but he's never been on a waverunner or boat or anything. He was so serious; we still weren't sure how he felt until after he went for a run with my brother, then he immediately asked, very seriously, "Again?"

He didn't smile a lot, but he kept wanting to go back out on the water. Brent tried to do some faster, fun things with Drew, and he just said, "Go slower, dad."

Uncle Tyler took Drew out for his first ride. I think he wanted to help steer; such a boy!

We got some smiles when he played on the beach. This kid loves water! Yes, his lifejacket is a little big, so it kept creeping up toward his ears. But this way, it will fit him longer. :)

Drew found a piece of driftwood higher on the beach. He came running to me and said, "Dinosaur!" So I just told him, "Cool! Did you find a dinosaur bone?" It was too cute...

The beach is, of course, a little dirty. And boys love to play in the dirt. So Drew got his hands all dirty, and that just tends to spread. I love that dirty little mug. :)

Why do I get so dirty? I don't know...

Marbles!

2010-07-27T16:38:00.000-06:00

We were lucky enough to head to my parents' house in much-cooler-than-OK Utah while Brent was at officer training. We had lots of fun -- swimming with Aunt Sarah, soccer with Uncle Brennon, wave runners with Uncle Tyler and Aunt Lindsey, and plenty of spoiling from grandmas and grandpas.

But nobody spoils Drew like Grandma! He has almost as many toys and books at Grandma's house as he does at home. We also went to Grandma's school and raided her first-grade classroom for more toys. We brought home this marble works toy, and it kept him entertained for five hours!

Thanks, everyone in the fam, for hanging out with us and doing so much fun stuff -- especially with Drew, while I'm not able to do much. I'm so glad we got to see all of you while we were home, and for all the extra help with my munchin.

We had lots of fun, but Drew was definitely ready to come home, and we left right before the temperatures hit 100 degrees. :) But we got to do everything I wanted to -- barbecues and fireworks and eating cherries at Grandpa's house. It's always nice to go home...

Busy Brent...

2010-07-26T20:28:00.001-06:00

Brent's spent the last six weeks in Texas completing officer training. We have missed him like crazy, but look at that handsome guy (on the right is our friend, Dave). It's been hard for all of us, but it was either do it now or after graduation. I'm glad he got to go with our friends instead of doing it by himself in two years -- and hey, now we've got it over with before the baby comes. I appreciate his sacrifice for us, as well as all the other guys who are not only providing for their families but serving their country. Thanks, Leanne, for sharing the pics. I hope my other Army wives have enjoyed their summer despite our hubbies being gone -- can't wait to see you all when you get back! :) (And Keri, of course! Not an Army wife but an awesome friend I haven't seen in six weeks, either...)

I've missed the mountains...

2010-07-07T20:30:00.000-06:00

It's always nice to get to come back home for a while, and it was especially nice to have some extra help with Drew since I've been getting so pregnant. My first weekend out, we got to celebrate my grandparents' 50th anniversary in Duchesne.

Congratulations, Grandma and Grandpa! I'm so excited for you. I'm glad we were able to make it out for the celebration...

Here's a picture of my Duchesne family. On the left is my aunt and uncle with their family, and on the right is my brother, Tyler, with his wife, Lindsey.

Mom was taking pictures, so Drew thinks he needs to, too.

We didn't get to stay long (went out on Saturday and came back Sunday), but it was so nice to see our family. Drew is the only greatgrandchild on this side, so I'm glad everyone got to see him. I know he's growing so quickly...

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

2010-07-07T20:09:00.000-06:00

My little man is really a little fish, too! He loves to swim, so I signed him up for swimming lessons this summer at the Will Rogers city pool. He was a little nervous learning to float on his back (as most kids are), but other than that, he loved every minute: Blowing bubbles, jumping off the side, going underwater, doing monster arms, hunting for toys and most of all -- the big slide!

Look at those awesome monster arms!

Drew with his teacher, Megan (haha, ironic, I know), learning to go under water. I used to be that tan...

Playing "London Bridge is falling down..."

Phew! Swimming is awesome!

I feel like such a mommy for taking him to swimming lessons, instead of teaching them. It's a little surreal. I also bought us a season pass, but we'll see how much we get to use it. I love to swim, too, but I'm getting sooooo pregnant... I'll have to do what I can for my little fish. :)

The Big Three

2010-05-07T19:42:00.000-06:00

Holy cow, I have a three year old! I'm really loving this stage, though -- I guess I'm just not one of those women who loves the baby stage. Sure, having a toddler can be a pain in the fanny, but over all, I love how much he can do for himself, all his personality and how much fun we have.

To celebrate our little man's birthday, we invited our awesome friends, the Larsons, to come to Chuck E. Cheese's with us. We had a blast, and I actually ate some pizza. Hallelujah I'm not so sick anymore! Drew had so much fun he didn't want to leave, even with the promises of cake and presents at home. Ady was anxious to help Drew open his presents.

Yes, I'm pregnant and lazy, so we opted for the store-bought cake. But it was really good and they did a much better job writing his name than I could have. :) But silly Drew -- he's not like his mom; he does NOT have a sweet tooth. He likes ice cream sometimes, and he nibbled on some frosting (like one bite) but he wouldn't try the cake. We finally got him to take a bite the next day, and he got this disgusted look on his face, like he had just put worms in his mouth or something -- what kid doesn't like cake? That's ok; he'll have healthy teeth!

Drew got a new tee for his birthday, along with new clothes and some bubbles. He had so much fun with Ady, so I'm glad our friends came along (sorry, I couldn't get any good pictures at Chuck E. Cheese's -- all blurry). Happy Birthday, Drewby!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-20T19:12:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Easter! My parents came to town to see us and we had so much fun! We did all kinds of fun stuff -- which was especially nice for me to get out and do something after being sick for months. We went downtown and got some tasty barbecue, went to the zoo and fed some ducks. Then we watched conference on Saturday and Sunday and enjoyed hanging out.

Drew and Brent camped out on the floor Sunday morning after we did a few little Easter presents and an egg hunt. Drew thought that was pretty awesome.

For Easter, Drew got a new Super Why DVD, an egg with a little Elmo in it, and some sidewalk chalk. He adores Super Why -- I'm already sick of the DVD because we watch it all the time. But I'm so glad that's what he likes: He's learned so much -- letters and letter sounds, and he's even learning to spell!

On Saturday we went to Lake Hefner to feed the ducks; unfortunately, it was the first really nice weekend, so it was packed. Some kids got there before us; they didn't have bread so they threw rocks -- scared the ducks awake. So we didn't stay long, but got a few pictures with the beautiful water.

I love that face! I hope Brynlee looks like Drew. :) I can't get enough of that face...

Before my parents left on Monday, we tried to blow bubbles. It was a little too windy, but at least Drew was learning how to blow bubbles. Thanks for coming out to see us -- we had a blast! We miss you so much!

It's a...

2010-04-01T19:41:00.000-06:00

I had my ultrasound today, and as hard as it is to believe given our track record in our family, we're expecting a girl! We're very excited! Now we have one of each! This will be the third granddaughter on Brent's side, and the third great-granddaughter on my side (the boys are too numerous to count, hehe). :) And yes, I celebrated by buying an adorable little outfit for our new sweet pea.
I've actually been feeling better the last couple of days, which is a huge blessing because my parents flew out to see us for Easter weekend. I'm so glad to have them around. It was awesome that my mom got to come to the ultrasound with me and my dad generously watched the boy while we were gone. I'm hoping this is a sign of better days ahead. I still have to eat like every two hours, but if that keeps the morning sickness at bay, bring on the schedule.
Yeah! A girl!

Hello spring!

2010-03-23T14:47:00.000-06:00

Thank goodness spring is finally here! On the first official day of spring, we had a blizzard! It was a yucky weekend, but the sun has come back out quickly.

I'm 17 weeks along now, and unfortunately I'm still pretty sick. But at least it seems to be sickness only in the morning and I (usually) feel better in the afternoon. Yesterday my good friend came up from Norman and I got to go with her and my two other good friends to Stars and Stripes Park by Lake Hefner -- and it was a beautiful day! I actually got to hang out with the girls and soak up the sun for like two hours! It felt so wonderful after being cooped up in the house, laying on the couch for about 10 weeks now.

I also took my camera along for the outing and got some fun pictures of my friends' kids -- and my kid, of course. But if you want to see more, go to my other blog -- megtalbotphotography.blogspot.com. There were a lot of pics, so I decided to put it on there. :)

In other news, we only have about a week and a half and we find out whether we're having a boy or girl; I'm so excited! And the best part: My mom and dad are coming out to see us next week, so my mom will come to the ultrasound with me. So watch for the announcement next Thursdsay!!!

Such a big boy...

2010-03-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

We're so excited; my parents are coming out to see us at the end of the month, and so in trying to get ready for their visit, we moved Drew's twin-size bed into his room. I thought maybe he'd keep sleeping in the crib until he got ready for it, but he was ready right away! He slept in it that night and has ever since.

He was so excited! He had to climb right in when we got it set up. This is a bed a friend in our last ward gave us. I repainted it a bright blue and recovered the headboard. It's hard to see, but the thing on the left is a bed rail so he won't fall out. He's been sleeping pretty good, except that he's been waking up far too early for my taste. I'm hoping to get some extra sleep with daylight savings time.

Ahhhh.... He's growing up fast, but I'm so enjoying this time!

Oh boy, oh boy...

2010-02-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

No, I don't know what I'm having yet, BUT I've got about six weeks before we find out (woohoo, as of Friday I'm officially in my second trimester!). I need a boy's name before then. I thought Drew was a girl, went into the ultrasound with only girl names and SURPRISE! It's a boy. So I figure if I have a boy names picked out, it will even the odds. :)

So far, here's the ones I like that Brent doesn't completely hate (that may be as good as it gets):
Chase
Asher
Nathan

So feel free to vote on a favorite of these or to suggest something of your own in the comments. Just fyi, if it's a boy, his middle name will be Robert after my awesome dad.

And just to remind you what a handsome boy we already had, we got to go to the zoo a few weeks ago and we got some good pictures. :) I love that face!

I won!

2010-02-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited -- I won a photography contest! I just found out a picture I took received one of the top three spots in the powerofmoms.com contest. They'll be posting the results any minute. I also have a picture (or two, not sure yet) in the top 35. I'll repost the pictures that won on my new photography blog: megtalbotphotography.blogspot.com. This seriously makes my day... :)

Christmas

2010-02-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

We had a great Christmas trip home, but I didn't get a ton of pictures. We spent Christmas in Cedar City, then headed to Brigham City for New Year's.

Drew had a blast playing with his cousins! Especially when they broke out the swords...

My father-in-law read all the kids "The Night Before Christmas," which we all loved.

We had so much fun! We really miss all of our family...

Brent took this picture of snow up in Brigham. Got some pretty good storms...

As for an update, I'm 13 weeks today, so I'm almost done with the first trimester. I'm still sick, unfortunately, but I've got some medication that is finally helping. I still have bad days once or twice a week, and there's still plenty of nausea. But I'm not losing weight anymore, so that's got to mean good things, right?

So much to catch up on...

2010-01-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

We had some great holidays visiting our friends and family in Las Vegas and in Utah. Unfortunately, we all got sick in turn on our trip, but it was great to see everyone! I'll post some pictures here when I get a chance.

Second, we're pregnant with baby No. 2, due Aug. 28. This is also the reason I don't see any near future posts. If you don't hear from me for a while, just know I'm laying low. The morning sickness if much worse with this baby. :(

And I have to mention -- my brother-in-law was traded just before Christmas to the Cleveland Indians, and we're so excited for him! I know this will mean good things for him, including spring training in Arizona instead of Florida.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T13:44:00.000-07:00

Whew! Brent's big test is over! I'm hoping I'll get to see him a lot more now that he's done with boards as well as two of his classes.

We had a great Thanksgiving with our dental/ward friends. And the kids got to enjoy Drew's early Christmas present with him -- a trampoline!

I've been spending some time with my new toy (Canon Rebel), and I'm loving it! It's also an early Christmas. I've still got a long ways to go figuring out this thing and learning how to use it best. But here's a picture I took yesterday of Drew (and tweaked in Photoshop, another thing I have a lot to learn about -- if you know of any good books on Photoshop for photographers, let me know!)

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and we can't wait to see all you Utah/Las Vegas people in a few weeks! :)

Here comes the big test...

2009-11-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

This semester has been crazy, and Brent has been working hard! He's had a lot of tests lately, but he's already finished two of his classes. But it's time for the big one: He takes his first boards on Wednesday. If you wouldn't mind sending prayers/happy thoughts/spare brain cells our way, we would sure appreciate it! Thanks, friends and family! We sure miss all of you!

Writing and picture taking and living...

2009-11-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

November is National Novel Writing Month (see explanation on my writing blog, link at bottom of list at the left). I've been participating (the goal is to write a 50,000-word novel by the end of the month). It didn't happen last week, so I think I may have put that goal out of reach for the end of the month, but it's been a great experience. I'll try to post some of my project -- check my other blog if you want to read a chapter!

PS- Tomorrow is going to be one of the best days ever!!! UPS will be bringing me my very own Canon Rebel XSi -- and I'm so excited! I love photography, and now I'll have a good camera for it. WOOHOO! Merry early Christmas to me!

Twick-or-tweet!

2009-11-02T16:48:00.006-07:00

We had a GREAT Halloween! We got to start things off on Friday at our ward Halloween party. It was a blast, and I didn't even spill chili on my white costume!

I took Drew trick-or-treating with my friends Keri and Danielle and their girls. I just love Drew in his little Jedi get-up. :)

Here's Drew and all the girls in the customary pre-trick-or-treat pics.

Drew and Ady now have this drill down: Knock on the door, several times, say the magic words and get candy!

Walking up the street in our neighborhood... We had absolutely gorgeous weather!

Our neighbor up the street had an awesome fall display on her porch...

Then we headed down to Norman for the big party! We were officially the "Star Wars" family this year. I think everyone kept calling us that because they didn't know who I was supposed to be (fyi: Padme Amidala, NOT Princess Leia).

We had so much fun -- eating and singing and laughing all night long! Well, maybe not all night; most of us have kids...

Dave and Jordan took the talent prize for best karaoke! Jordan's so dreamy... Ahhh! :) I think this is my favorite pic from the party!

We even got Brent to sing a few, despite his swearing he wouldn't before we went to the party. So much fun!

Once again, so grateful for the friends we have out here! Thanks guys! You're the best! Now, on to finishing off Drew's candy... Thank goodness Brent will get to clean my teeth again in a few weeks. Perfect timing!

STRIKE! Try again...

2009-10-25T20:02:00.005-06:00

October is lots of fun for us -- getting ready for Halloween and cheering for our teams in the race for the World Series.

I've been working on costumes all month. Drew's costume from last year has been refitted and he'll be a little Jedi. He loved trying on his robe -- he just wanted to run around the house in it.

Brent will don his Jedi garb again, and I'm almost done with my Padme Amidala (Episode II battle) costume.

We're watching Game 6 with Yankees (Brent's team) vs. Angels (my team). Drew wanted to get in on the action, so yes, we played ball in the house.

But how many 2 year olds do you know who can hit the ball by themselves? Drew's a natural! Look at that form -- elbows just right and hands above the barrel! We just need to work on the stance...

We also got to enjoy the crisp fall weather. On Friday, we went to Chester's Party Barn. We had to bundle up, but it was a blast roasting hot dogs by the fire, seeing animals up close in the petting zoo, taking a hay ride and wandering through a corn maze.

We got there right at sunset. It was really cool looking out over the little pond, with campfires all over. It felt like the perfect October night.

Happy Haunting this week!

Uncle Mitch and Aunt Julie

2009-10-11T14:07:00.021-06:00

There hasn't been much going on in our lives, thus the lack of posts. Brent has been very busy with school, Drew is speaking like crazy and I'm working on my book and billions of craft projects.

But we were lucky to get a visit from my brother- and sister-in-law a few weeks ago. We took Mitch and Julie downtown to visit Bricktown and enjoyed hanging out with them so much!

We walked all over downtown; we ate at Earl's, which has some great food, and visited Myriad Gardens.

We found this little guy at Myriad Gardens on the sidewalk. He was just too cute, so we decided to take him home. Drew's friend Ady named him Buck. Unfortunately, Buck the turtle would have required much more room and care than we anticipated, so he went back to the wild after Mitch and Julie left. Plus, he wasn't eating and I was getting worried about him. We sent him off to live in Lake Hefner, which he seemed very happy to swim in. He took off like a shot -- even against the current -- as soon as we put him in the water. That made me feel better since I was worried he would be ok.

Here's Ady with Buck. He was so small he fit in the palm of her little hands.

We also visited the Oklahoma City Memorial from the federal building bombing in 1995. There are two walls on both sides of a reflection pool, as well as an area to the south of the pool with a chair in memorium of each person who died that day. It was very powerful to see. This is a picture Julie took of Mitch and Brent looking out at the reflection pool.

Julie let me borrow her camera to take this picture of the tree and Drew reflected in the pool.

Drew was happy to get out of the stroller and was excited there was water there. But the energy didn't last long...

He was out before we got to the car. :)

Drew loved having Mitch and Julie -- and their puppy -- here for a visit. He wanted to hang out with Mitch constantly, especially when he had the laptop out. He couldn't even wait for clothes after his bath to get back to his Uncle Mitch. :)

Mitch and Julie came to see us because Mitch's team (Durham Bulls) made it to the Triple A championship, which has been played in OKC for a few years. We got to go to the game and see Mitch pitch in the final inning. His team won the championship after 11 innings and lots of nail-biting.

Drew and Julie in front of AT&T Bricktown by the Johnny Bench statue before we went into the game.

Drew and the Durham mascot, Wool E. Bull.

All of us at the game just before Mitch got called in.

We got to go down on the field after the game and snap a few pictures.

Thanks so much for staying with us! We had a blast!

Not so newlyweds...

2009-08-02T17:03:00.002-06:00

Brent and I have officially reached the seven-year mark today. We were married Aug. 2, 2002, in Bountiful. And sorry, you don't get any wedding pictures. We were married so long ago, apparently, that I don't have any digital copies of our wedding pictures, only prints. Nor do I have a scanner. (I know; prehistoric, huh?) This picture is from a family trip when we took my father-in-law to a Bees' game; we had a water fight at my brother- and sister-in-law's house in Lehi.

Live has changed a lot for us, especially with the addition of our little bug, Drew. Our wonderful friends Zack and Keri took Drew for us yesterday and we got to go on a rare date to see a movie and have dinner without a child so loud he forces other families to move tables (true story). As Brent said, we've now been married longer than half of Americans, which I don't know is true. What is true is that we have been married longer than most of our friends, but we have less kids so I figure that evens it out. :) I couldn't ask for anyone sweeter who makes me laugh everyday as we grow (increasingly) older together...

Happy Anniversary babe. :)

Ahhhhh... vacation!

2009-07-10T23:34:00.011-06:00

We are very fortunate that Brent gets the summer off from dental school, so we made the most of it with a month-long trip visiting friends and family.

Our first stop was to Denver to visit my friends Ryan and Laura; we were only able to stay for dinner, but it was so fun to see them! The next place was Laramie, Wyoming, where we stayed with friends Steve and Cass and their little girl, Taidyn.

Steve and Cass showed us a great time! We enjoyed the considerably cooler weather and went to the park for a community event. Drew got free snow cones and loved it!

Steve and Cass took us to a great little Mexican restaurant, and Brent had to cowboy up -- they brought him a 5 pound burrito! Amazingly, he finished it.

We spent a couple of weeks in Brigham City with my family. My mom took us to a children's museum where Drew got to play with musical instruments, blocks and trains.

We got to spend the 4th of July with my family, which was so much fun. We got to play games and enjoy a parade, then watch the fireworks at Pioneer Park. Drew didn't like them much.

Drew and Grandma...

Drew throwing at the milk canister toss...

Look at this face! This is "the face"...

Me and Brent at the fireworks...

We got to spend some time with my friends from high school and college. My friends Aimee and Kym brought their kids and we had a little zoo at Elisha's...

The great thing about Grandpa's house in July -- cherries right off the tree...

We also got down to Vegas during our trip to see our friends. Drew had to warm up a bit to the splash pad at the Town Square mall, but he really enjoyed it when he did...

We got to finish up with a week in Cedar City and some time in Albuquerque with my sister-in-law Angie. We had a great trip, and we're so glad we got to see most of our friends and family. Thanks for all the memories!

Home, sweet home...

2009-06-22T19:01:00.004-06:00

We're finally in! We're all moved (but not settled) into our first house! We feel so blessed. Drew is loving all the space to run in, plus the closet of toys in his room and the fact that he can turn on all our lights. Here are some pictures. :)

We're moving!

2009-06-11T22:15:00.001-06:00

Woohoo! This has been one of the longest weeks of my life, but it's official -- we're are soon-to-be proud owners of a home! We're signing the papers tomorrow afternoon. I promise pictures will follow. :)

Hairstyle by mommy...

2009-06-01T17:43:00.002-06:00

Uh oh! It's time for a haircut -- and I decided to try it myself. I want to learn to cut his hair so we can do it at home, plus my hairstylist is in the middle of a move. I had her cut it for the first time, so at least his first haircut was good. :)

Definitely a learning experience, but that's why I'm doing it now when he doesn't care how he looks... It got too short, especially in the front, but not bad for my first haircut ever!

We got hair everywhere! He kept wiggling because it was itchy.

Ok, who's next? :)

Enjoying the pool...

2009-05-29T13:05:00.004-06:00

Brent took Drew swimming yesterday; it was hot (although the pool was pretty cold) and we're enjoying the pool while we still have it for a few more weeks.

Drew is such a swimmer! He loves the water. I took the opportunity to use my friends' Rebel a bit more before I gave it back. I was just starting to get used to all the fun stuff you can do! I'll probably forget again before I get my own...

Yeah for rashguards! I think Drew looks so cute in them!

Drew is really getting used to the water. He'll jump in to Brent and he likes playing on the steps by himself (with us nearby, of course).

Swim, daddy! Swim faster!

Kick, kick, kick, kick!

Daddy can be such a drama queen... :)

We have these flowers all over at our apartment complex, and I really hope I can find some like it for our house. They're beautiful! Plus I really like this picture. Macro setting is awesome... :)

Drew didn't get to swim for too long. The pool was already in shade for the evening, and the water was very cool. He got cold quickly... Oh yeah, and he biffed it on the cement at our friends' apartment on Memorial Day, hence the big scab on his arm.

Wrinkly toes, blue nose...

Look at those blue lips! I know I'm his mom, but what a face! I love it!

Super cute pregnant belly...

2009-05-29T12:50:00.003-06:00

No, I'm not pregnant!! And shame on you if you jumped to that conclusion. :) I got to take some pictures for my friends, Jordan and Katrina, who are having a little girl on July 24. Thanks for letting me take your pictures, and I hope you don't mind me sharing...

I had so much fun -- I borrowed a Rebel XT from my friends Zack and Keri (thanks!!!) and had a blast taking these pictures. Highlight of my week... :)

Brent's first patient...

2009-05-27T16:02:00.002-06:00

Brent got to see his first patient today -- me! He poked at my gums, asked me a lot of questions and took a set of impressions.

He did very well, even though the impressions were most unpleasant for me (let's just say my gag reflex goes off far too easily).

I'm so excited for him! I'm going back on Friday when I get a cleaning and some x-rays. He's worked so hard this year, and I'm very proud of him. One year down, three to go...

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-26T13:28:00.004-06:00

We had the best weekend! We enjoyed time hanging out and using our pool. We went to our friends' Isaac and Leanne's for a great bbq with our okie friends -- it was a blast! I love all you guys!

We enjoyed the usual fare, with Brent serving as grill master. We played football and basketball, ate, and enjoyed some great volleyball games. Drew wouldn't eat food, but he did eat dirt. Grumble, grumble...

Nina has quite the shot! She beat out the guys in seven-on-the-line.

Drew and Ady played fairly well for once. :) Of course, they were both covered in that sand by the end of the night. Worst bathtime ever -- Drew fell asleep on the way home and did not want a bath, only to be held.

And here it is: I got my hair cut a few weeks ago. I cut a good 8 to 10 inches off. I'm still working with it, but overall I love having it short. If you've heard the rumors, here's the picture.

Ok, Drew also ate cheetos, but I think he liked the dirt better. :(

And here's Jimmy, showing us how the guys had to play in the match between guys and girls: one handed, one legged and one eyed. :)

And in other news, we can't believe we've been here for almost a year. The time has gone very quickly for us, and I'm so glad I have such great friends that make me enjoy my Oklahoma. And life will get very exciting for us here: We're buying our first house. We can't wait to get in!!! When things get a little more finalized, we'll share some pictures. It looks like we'll be moving in about three weeks or so. Here I come, garage and lots of space!!

Attention ladies!

2009-05-09T09:28:00.002-06:00

To all the wonderful women in my life:

Happy Mother's Day! I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day. I feel so lucky when I look at each of you; I really feel blessed with all the amazing people in my life, but especially you women. Thanks for your friendship, your encouragement and your love.

On another note, I wanted to share something kind of cool I found. I'm the kind of person who needs lots of encouragement and help along the way. I found a neat Web site dedicated to moms and providing encouragement for each other with articles, book reviews, suggestions, etc. I've added a button on my blog (see left), but if you're interested, the address is www.powerofmoms.com. Check out the book section and you can see a book review I wrote. :)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

We love baseball!

2009-04-28T16:34:00.004-06:00

I'm so excited for baseball season -- it's too bad our team here isn't the greatest. But the Bricktown ballpark is awesome! We went opening night a few weekends ago. It threatened to rain, but the skies cleared and we had a fun time.

The ballpark is right downtown; there are restaurants and a big theater across the street as well as a canal that runs all over nearby. We went early to get free T-shirts.

Drew loves to wear his sunglasses everywhere. He's just too cool in them. :) We had to wait a few minutes for the gates to open, but Drew thought it was pretty awesome there was live music.

After we got our shirts and scoped out our seats, we ate dinner at Sonic (which started in Oklahoma, so they're EVERYWHERE), and then walked around the canal for about an hour. It was a great night, despite the fact the team lost -- BAD.

Watch out for Mr. Terrible Two...

2009-04-28T14:15:00.004-06:00

Oh yes -- the rumors are true! The twos are terrible, and Drew is now officially two! Although Drew started into his "terrible" phase early, he's really digging in to try and show us how terrible he can be. Unfortunately for us, he got my set of lungs; it's a good thing he's cute...

We celebrated Drew's birthday on Thursday by going to Chuck E. Cheese. He wanted to play any game where he got to hold and/or throw a ball. He did finally settle down and eat some pizza, but only after we had used most of our tokens.

The bowling game he kept wanting to play, even when other people were using it...

Mmmmmmm.... Cold pizza!

What a spoiled little boy! He just has the best grandmas. :)

On Friday, all our friends came over and we had a big dinner and cake. I decided to go the easy route -- you know, box mix, canned frosting -- to make a simple baseball cake. Well, it didn't turn out quite like I wanted, but I guess you get the idea. :)

The stitching turned into squiggles; the frosting from a can was really hard to control. It came out hardly at all or super fast. Oh well... I'll try again next year!

Birthdays are so exhausting...

Happy Birthday, Drew! You may be terrible sometimes, but your little smile is the best. We love you!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T18:59:00.004-06:00

Thanks to some grandmas, the Easter Bunny was generous at our house. I don't think Drew quite gets the concept, but he was pretty excited to get stuff. :)

Yesterday we went to an egg hunt in Edmond at the UCO campus. A church played host to the hunt, which was in the university's football stadium, and there were a LOT of kids. The field was covered with bright eggs. Drew and Brent went down, and Drew loved picking up the eggs. He was really upset that he had to wait until the announcer said, "Go!"

He got every possible egg he could fit into his basket, which ended up being mostly tootsie rolls and gum. But it's all about the hunt, right?

Today he walked into the living room and saw our chair full of stuff, and he just stopped and looked at it, completely confused. When I finally let him dig in, he was happy with his treasures.

He got two stuffed bunnies, a bubble set, two new books, sunglasses, and a tiny Wii remote that shoots out candy.

Yeah, he looks pretty awesome in those glasses. :) Thanks, grandmas!

We had a great day at church, and he seemed pretty awake afterward, but that might have been the tootsie rolls he had for breakfast. :) (He had some cereal, too!) But about 7:30 tonight, we realized it was kind of quiet. Well, the sugar buzz must have worn out. He fell asleep mid-play!

Big trouble!

2009-04-12T18:50:00.003-06:00

So, Drew will be two years old in less than two weeks, and boy, we are learning why they call it the terrible twos. If any of you parents out there have any suggestions, I'm seriously going to need it...

I guess one way to deal with it is to try to laugh at the outrageous stuff. Here's one I thought worth sharing: We live on the second story of our apartment complex, and we have a very nice balcony. Drew knows -- proficiently -- how to unlock and go out our doors. In fact, he's getting so tall he'll probably start playing with the light switches soon. Anyway, he loves to go out on the balcony, but we have a rule that he cannot take anything with him, either because he throws it through the rails to the ground below, or we find it in the diaper champ, which means it just has to get thrown out with the diapers because there's no saving it after it's been in with the loaded diapers.

Thursday evening, Brent and I were enjoying our evening and working on little projects. Unbeknownst to us, Drew took the opportunity of our distraction to break our nothing-goes-out-on-the-balcony rule. Brent happened to look up and see him running out with a ball. He chases after him, and a minute later, I hear Brent say, "Meg, get the camera."

Oh great, I'm thinking. What on earth has he done? Well, see for youselves...

There are even more items than what I could capture in the picture. If you can't tell, that's Brent's flipflops, Brent's socks, Drew's new GAP hat, three rings, two toy cars, two sippie cups and a ball. Needless to say, it was funny but Drew was in big trouble!

Elmo!

2009-04-06T17:57:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Aunt BranDee, Drew is in love with a wonderful little book about baby Elmo. I usually memorize his books pretty fast, just because I read them so much, but he actually memorized this book before I did. It's too cute, so I wanted to share his favorite book -- as well as his growing vocabulary -- with you all.

It's all about the red shoes...

2009-04-04T13:08:00.005-06:00

I got an early birthday present and Brent took me to see Oklahoma City Ballet's production of "The Wizard of Oz" on the 27th. I very much enjoyed going; it was a treat for Brent to take me because he really does NOT like dance.

Because it was the Wizard of Oz, I -- of course -- had to wear my beautiful pair of red pumps. I was getting ready and the shoes were in the living room. Drew apparently shares my fettish for shoes. :)

In other miscellaneous life...

Drew and Ady are just the cutest. I love it when they play together -- not so much when they fight, and it's a toin-coss for which they're doing. Our friends came over last Sunday for some treats and to hang out for a while. Drew has a book about things that go that has a hole in the middle for you to put your face in so the story is about you. He got out his book, and Ady must have thought it looked like a kissing booth or something. We all laughed at their little smooch, so they did it several times. :) I love it...

Drew thinks he's such a big boy. He'll be two on the 23rd, so I guess he is getting to be pretty big. He's starting to say words more frequently now, and he loves to play computer games with us. The only one we let him play himself is Zuma, so here's our big boy, losing his game like 14 times in a row and loving it.

Finally, Drew loves taking his pants off. But this night, he also had a pretty soggy diaper. We were just going to throw him in the tub in a minute anyway, but he decided he needed to take his diaper off, too. Only kids can get away with this little ensemble of just shirt and socks -- I was laughing so hard as he ran around the house like this, the tears were rolling down my cheeks! Baby butts are the cutest. :)

SPRING BREAK! WOO HOO!

2009-03-23T15:50:00.020-06:00

Yes, it's been a while since my last post, but nothing's been going on in our life. However, last week was spring break and it was a awesome!!!

Brent did well on his midterms the week before, and we completely soaked up every minute after. I had an afternoon to myself last Friday, did some writing and shopping and enjoyed some alone time. We vegged for the weekend, and then we had a day hanging out with friends on Monday. Ultimate frisbee, volleyball -- and sore muscles!

On Tuesday and Wednesday we went to Chickasaw National Recreation Area with our friends Jordan and Katrina, and Zack and Keri and their little girls. It was the funnest camping trip! We crowded all our tents onto one camp site, we had awesome food and yummy smores, and Drew and Ady got DIRTY!

Our camping spot was near the Lake of Arbuckles. The water was cold, but there was a big beach and we loved the beautiful weather -- in the 80s both days.

Drew and Ady, the diaper twins, loved playing in the water. Ady gave herself a mud bath and Drew splashed as much as he could. The big boys got brave and went out for a dunk.

On Wednesday we went to Turner Falls, did some rock climbing, kind of, and played in the water. We all got a little too much sun, but that's the sign of a good spring break in my book. :)

Drew and Ady found plenty of ways to get dirty. Drew ate some dirt, so Ady thought she should too. It looked more like fall than spring at the recreation area with dead leaves all over the ground, but it made for fun crunching and a soft landing spot.

(Yes, that's a dirt handprint on Drew's face.)

Both evenings we took a walk down along the shore of the lake and skipped rocks. Drew is truly happy when he's throwing things, and I think throwing rocks was probably the funnest thing in the world to him. He was so mad when it got too dark and we had to walk back to camp.

We watched the absolutely beautiful scene of the sun setting against the lake, and we caught these tiny frogs that swam in the shallows near the shore. I think that was my favorite part of the trip, besides enjoying time around the camp fire (although we didn't actually get to have a camp fire because of a fire ban -- we enjoyed the glow of charcoals).

Ady has one of these little frogs in her hands.

Zack and Ady by the shore

Thanks so much you guys! It wouldn't have been so great without you. :)

This was our first chance to get out of the city and see what Oklahoma has to offer. We needed the time off. It was the best week I've had since we moved out here. And Oklahoma has some beautiful spots. I can't wait to do something like this again next year!

His first haircut...

2009-02-05T10:25:00.003-07:00

After two or three strangers telling us, "Oh, she's so cute!", we decided it was finally time to get Drew in for his first haircut. I don't think he looks like a girl, even with the long hair, as many of you have agreed. But it WAS getting long (when it was wet, it almost got in his eyes in the front and touched his back in the back), so it was time for a haircut...

(The before shot)

I took Drew to my friend Brandi, who does a great job cutting my hair (ironically, she grew up down the street from me in Brigham but I didn't meet her until I moved out here). I figured I wanted a professional to do it for the first time. I would have been way too nervous and probably took a chunk out somewhere. Drew cried a little at first, and fussed a little when she used the trimmers, but other than that, I just read to him and kept him distracted and he was very good.

Brandi put some folded up matts on her chair and put him in a cape that had arms. Everyone keeps asking if I was sad or nervous for his first haircut, but I wasn't because I wasn't doing it. :) Brandi did an awesome job, and I wasn't sad because I knew this was coming. I've actually been putting it off for a few weeks. Plus, I think most moms want their kids to stay little forever. I love this stage, but I don't want him to stay here. I'm excited to see him grow and learn, so this "rite of passage" into little manhood doesn't make me sad. He definitely looks more grown up and handsome.

I'm just glad that there's still enough to get mussed during his nap. I think it looks so good, but a little hard to get used to. It's quite short, but hey, he IS a boy...

(post-nap)

We're in the Army now...

2009-01-29T19:44:00.004-07:00

It's even more official -- we're in the Army now! Brent swore in tonight and signed all his papers. He's now 2nd Lt. Brent Talbot. Weird, huh?

One of his professors is with the Army and he swore him, as well as our friends Dave Smith and Isaac Sebourn, in at the dental school.

It's a relief to know we're guaranteed money through dental school. I'm so grateful that we've had such a good feeling about the Army and we know it's the right decision for us. We could also end up living in some pretty cool places. :)

Good news...

2009-01-26T15:15:00.002-07:00

Yeah! It's official: we've been accepted to the Army's medical scholarship program! And they'll start paying as soon as we can get everything signed, which means they'll pay this semester's tuition, books, etc. We also get the signing bonus and monthly stipend. :) This is great news for us, and we're really excited about the Army's program.

Brent will start out as an officer, but he does have to go to officer training. That might be this summer or it might not be until after school. We'll find out as we get into it. It also means we may qualify to buy a house... Either way, we're relieved to have the money sooner than later and know that we're doing everything we can to pay our way in school. Yeah some more!